Finance
Though all-rounder Washington Sundar did not get to bowl, he came up big when it counted, smashing an unbeaten 49 off 23 balls to help India upset Australia by five wickets in the third T20I at the Bellerive Oval on Sunday.
Chasing 187, India’s top seven contributed in portions, but it was Sundar’s late flourish, packed with three fours and four sixes, that sealed India’s victory with nine balls remaining and leveled the five-match series at 1-1. Australia suffered its first defeat in six T20 Internationals at Hobart.
ndia began their chase with purpose, as Abhishek looked fluent in cutting Xavier Bartlett for six before carting Sean Abbott for two fours and a six. But the momentum swung when Nathan Ellis struck twice in quick succession: Abhishek mistimed a pull, and the keeper grabbed the top edge, while Shubman Gill was stranded lbw.
With both openers back in the pavilion, Suryakumar Yadav proceeded to steady the innings by hitting Ellis and Abbott for sixes each before slicing off Matthew Kuhnemann for four. But Suryakumar fell in the eighth over when he chipped a slower ball from Marcus Stoinis to extra cover. Four overs later, Axar Patel fell when he was cramped for room by a bouncer from Nathan Ellis and top-edged a pull to mid-wicket.
Sundar’s onslaught began with a six over Ellis at midwicket, followed by a boundary to Matthew Kuhnemann. He then turned the tide in India’s favor by scoring 19 runs off Sean Abbott in the 14th over, including a tennis-style swat for four over deep extra cover, a tremendous whip over square leg for six, and a pull on a short ball for another maximum.
Australia responded when Tilak Varma attempted a scoop but missed the top edge and allowed the keeper a routine catch off Bartlett. With Jitesh Sharma scooping and driving for boundaries, Sundar swung hard to clear backward square leg for six before blasting Stoinis’ full delivery over the bowler’s head for four. Jitesh finished off the chase in style with a lofted drive over extra cover.
Brief Scores: Australia 186/6 in 20 overs (Tim David 74, Marcus Stoinis 64; Arshdeep Singh 3-35, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-33) lost to India 188/5 in 18.3 overs (Washington Sundar 49 not out, Tilak Varma 29; Nathan Ellis 3-36, Marcus Stoinis 1-22) by five wickets.
Source: IANS
