In the fourth T20I match of the five-match series, India defeated Australia by 20 runs at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.
Australia won the toss and asked India to bat first. The home side got off to a strong start with both openers, Yashasvi Jaiswal (37) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (32), scoring decent runs in the powerplay. Ruturaj hit three fours and Jaiswal struck six fours, while both batters also hit one six each. The side got through some hiccups in the middle overs as well-experienced batters Shreyas Iyer and Suryakumar Yadav got out cheaply. It was Rinku Singh (46) and Jitesh Sharma (35), who guided the team to reach a decent score of 174 runs. While Rinku hit four fours and two sixes, wicketkeeper batter Jitesh smacked three maximums and one four.Â
In the chase, Travis Head (31) gave a flying start to the visitors. The batter played at a strike rate of 193, which included five fours and one six. Ben McDermott (19), Tim David (19) and Matthew Short (22) also scored a few runs, but it wasn’t enough to reach the target. Skipper Matthew Wade (36*) was the last hope for the Aussie fans but it was just too much to get.
Axar Patel was brilliant tonight with the ball while defending, as he got three wickets. Deepak Chahar also took two wickets, while one wicket was also taken by Avesh Khan.Â
Ben Dwarshuis scalped three wickets, while two wickets each were grabbed by Jason Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha. Along with them, one wicket was also claimed by Aaron Hardie.
With this win, Team India have clinched the ongoing series by 3-1, with a game to go.
Scorecard:
India: 174/9, Overs 20, Rinku Singh 46, Ben Dwarshuis 3/40
Australia: 154/7, Overs 20, Matthew Wade 36*, Axar Patel 3/16