Hyderabad: It was a fantastic series-decider between the T20I world champions and No. 1 team in the world, as the third and final game went down to the wire before India pipped Australia by 6 wickets with a ball to spare.
Asked to bat first after Rohit Sharma won the toss, Australia squandered Cameron Green’s hurricane start before regaining the momentum in the final 5 overs to post 187/6 in 20 overs.
Chasing 187, India lost both openers KL Rahul (1) and Rohit (17) with just 30 runs on the board before Virat Kohli and Suryakumar Yadav came to the party.
Surya was at his arrogant best, smashing 69 off just 36 balls with 5 fours and 5 sixes.
Kohli used his experience to play steadily when Surya was at the crease, as the two added 104 runs in just over 10 overs. Kohli went on to score 63 before perishing in the final over, but Hardik Pandya (25 not out off 16) finished the job with a boundary.
Tall opener Green went berserk at the start. Opening the batting in this series in the absence of David Warner, raced to 52 off 21 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes to bring up the second-fastest fifty by an Australian in a T20I.
After motoring to 62/2 in just 5 overs, Australia lost a flurry of wickets as left-arm spinner Axar Patel (3/33 in 4 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal (1/22 in 4) brought the home team back in the game.
However, another strokeful fifty by Tim David helped Australia finish strongly at 186/7 in 20 overs.
David smacked 54 off 27 balls as he and Daniel Sams added 68 runs for the seventh wicket in less than 6 overs.
Brief scores: Australia 186/7 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 52, Tim David 54; Axar Patel 3/33). India 187/4 in 19.5 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 69, Virat Kohli 63; Daniel Sams 2/33).
Result: India won by 6 wickets.
Series Result: India win 2-1.
