India wrapped up the T20I series in Sydney on Sunday 6 December thanks to an incredible finish.
Image Copyright – Steve Haag Sports
Australia put their faith in a young bowling attack and came up short, but the experience will surely stand them in good stead.
Australia vs India Tuesday 8 December 2020 | Sydney Cricket Ground, Sydney | 10:10
To Win Match
Australia 21/20
Tie 25/1
India 82/100
Australia
Australia’s experimental lineup almost got the job done in the second T20I, but small errors cost them across the forty overs of the match.
Skipper Matthew Wade made fifty as an experimental opener, but Australia needed him to go on to make the most of a good surface and small boundaries.
Daniel Sams had done well until his final over got taken apart, and he was rewarded with the wicket of India captain Virat Kohli, but he learned that the margin for error is tiny at this level.
The finish to their innings let them down as a string of wickets broke their momentum which has been the case in both T20Is so far.
Australia will not want to give up a whitewash to India but will need to lift their all-round game to push the visitors.
India
Thangarasu Natarajan has been the standout for India creating unreal competition for places among a cabal of pacemen. He was the difference-maker for India who otherwise struggled to contain the Australian batsmen.
India needed a collective effort to get over the line in the second match but will be pleased with the depth of contributions to the victory.
Kohli couldn’t take the innings to its conclusion, but Hardik Pandya’s finishing is the envy of their opponents who have come unstuck at the death.
India might consider resting a few players ahead of the Four Test series which gets underway in mid-December.
The tourists’ strength is such that they should expect to win even if they leave out some of their stars.
Verdict: India 82/100
India will want to rub the series defeat in with a whitewash.
Written by James Richardson.
