Rinku Singh brilliance with the bat & Axar Patel’s great bowling spell helped India beat Australia by 20 runs in Raipur to clinch the 5-match T20I series 3-1, with 1 game remaining to be played in Bengaluru.
Batting first, India rode on Rinku and Jitesh Sharma’s late blitz to post a challenging 174/9 in 20 overs. In reply, Australia was restricted to 154/7 in 20 overs. While Axar picked three, Deepak Chahar took two wickets, with Ravi Bishnoi and Avesh Khan picking one wicket each.
The highest successful chase in T20s at Raipur remains 162, and Australia couldn’t surpass that record. Travis Head made a blazing start, scoring at a strike rate of 200 and contributing significantly to a strong powerplay total. However, the team faced challenges as only Wade managed to score over 120, while the rest of the batsmen struggled against the spin duo of Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi. The two spinners combined to produce an excellent spell, taking 4 wickets for 33 runs in the 8 overs they bowled together.
The Suryakumar Yadav-led side bounced back in style after going down to the current World Cup champion in Guwahati with a clinical performance to take an unassailable 3-1 lead.
Axar (4-0-16-3) and Bishnoi (4-0-17-1) spun a web around the Australian batsmen in conditions where there was little dew to encounter. The spinners didn’t allow the Australians to run away with the game after Josh Philippe and Travis Head provided a fiery start to the innings sending Chahar on a leather hunt.
While being put into bat first Yashasvi Jaiswal (37 off 28 balls) and Ruturaj (32 off 28 balls) packed a punch and provided a solid start with a 50-run stand in just 34 balls in the PowerPlay.
The fall of the opener saw Australia strike twice in quick succession as Tanveer Sangha removed Shreyas Iyer, and Dwarshuis, coming back into the attack, induced an outside edge to pack off Suryakumar.
Rinku Singh stars again
Rinku joined Ruturaj and got into business straight away he was at his imperious best and peppered the big boundaries with four hits to the fence and two massive sixes, taking the attack to the opposition. Walking in with India in a spot of bother, the southpaw first joined hands with Ruturaj Gaikwad to stitch an important 48-run stand for the fourth wicket in 31 balls and then found an able partner in Jitesh to help India cross the 150-run mark.
Jitesh then took the mantle of taking India forward along with Rinku as the men in blue were poised to cross the 180-run mark. But Australia brilliantly pulled things in dramatic fashion. However, they faltered in the chase, with the Indian bowlers delivering the goods when it mattered the most.
Chahar, who was drafted in the side for the final two T20s, came a cropper as he leaked 22 runs in his second over before Suryakumar Yadav introduced spin.
Bishnoi struck in his very first ball by cleaning up Phillippe, who attempted a wild sweep shot only to see the ball sneak under his bat and crash on to the stumps. Axar, too, made an immediate impact upon arrival by removing the dangerous Travis Head. India piled pressure with the left-arm spinner picking his second wicket in a space of eight balls by castling Aaron Hardie and then earning his third with a slower delivery that pegged back the off-pole of Ben McDermott.
Tim David and Matthew Short had a job in their hands with Australia needing 76 runs in 36 balls, and the required rate hovering close to 13 runs per over. However, Chahar came back into the attack to dismiss Tim David and Matthew Short to shut the door on Australia.