India vs Australia: Virat Kohli’s masterful knock goes in vain as Australia secure consolation win
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Glenn Maxwell
Australia secured a consolation victory by 12 runs against India at the Sydney Cricket Ground in a close encounter to ensure India did not secure a whitewash. The match followed a similar template as the 2nd T20I which was held at the same venue. Australia were put in to bat and got to a big score of 186 thanks to Matthew Wade and Glenn Maxwell.
In the second innings, the Australian spinners applied the choke and kept chipping away with regular wickets to keep the run-rate at check. Despite Virat Kohli’s knock of 85, India couldn’t reach the target as they ran out of batters to complete the chase for them.
Wade-Maxwell stand powers Australia to 186
Earlier, put in to bat first, Australia got off to a horror start as they lost skipper Aaron Finch for a duck off Washington Sundar’s bowling. The offie then went on to remove Steve Smith who looked shaky throughout his stay. But Smith’s dismissal augured well for the Aussies as Glenn Maxwell proved his big-hitting mettle with a scintillating knock.
Matthew Wade who was the stand-in captain in the previous game continued to shine with a second consecutive fifty. However, Wade fell to Shardul Thakur and fell 20 runs short of a maiden century. Maxwell however went on to score a half-century before being cleaned up by a T Natarajan delivery. In the end, Australia reached 186/5.
Virat Kohli’s fighting innings in vain
In the chase, India got to a horror start as well much like Australia as KL Rahul got out for a duck in the first over bowled by Glenn Maxwell. Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli then cantered along before the former’s wicket. The wickets then kept falling as Mitchell Swepson took three wickets removing not only Dhawan but also Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer cheaply.
It was then left to Hardik Pandya and Kohli to win it for India. But Pandya who looked promising lost his wicket to Adam Zampa leaving captain Kohli with more than a mountain to climb. Kohli then holed out off Andrew Tye’s bowling which meant the game was over for India. The Men in Blue fell short by 12 runs in the end getting to 174/7.
Scores:
1st innings:
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| Matthew Wade | lbw b Thakur | 80 | 53 |
| Aaron Finch | c Pandya b Sundar | 0 | 2 |
| Steve Smith | b Sundar | 24 | 23 |
| Glenn Maxwell | b Natarajan | 54 | 36 |
| Moises Henriques | not out | 5 | 2 |
| D’Arcy Short | run out (Pandey(sub)/Rahul) | 7 | 3 |
| Daniel Sams | not out | 4 | 2 |
Total: 186/5 in 20 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Deepak Chahar | 4 | 34 | 0 |
| Washington Sundar | 4 | 34 | 2 |
| T Natarajan | 4 | 33 | 1 |
| Yuzvendra Chahal | 4 | 41 | 0 |
| Shardul Thakur | 4 | 43 | 1 |
2nd innings:
| Batsman | Mode of Dismissal | Runs | Balls |
| KL Rahul | c Smith b Maxwell | 0 | 2 |
| Shikhar Dhawan | c Sams b Swepson | 28 | 21 |
| Virat Kohli | c Sams b Tye | 85 | 61 |
| Sanju Samson | c Smith b Swepson | 10 | 9 |
| Shreyas Iyer | lbw b Swepson | 0 | 1 |
| Hardik Pandya | c Finch b Zampa | 20 | 13 |
| Washington Sundar | c Tye b Abbott | 7 | 6 |
| Shardul Thakur | not out | 17 | 7 |
| Deepak Chahar | not out | 0 | 0 |
Total Score: 174/7 in 20 overs
| Bowler | Overs | Runs | Wickets |
| Glenn Maxwell | 3 | 20 | 1 |
| Sean Abbott | 4 | 49 | 1 |
| Daniel Sams | 2 | 29 | 0 |
| Andrew Tye | 4 | 31 | 1 |
| Mitchell Swepson | 4 | 23 | 3 |
| Adam Zampa | 3 | 21 | 1 |
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Nevin Clinton
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