An understrength Australia has sunk to its third defeat in a row and lost the T20 series to India in straight sets in a thrilling six-wicket loss at the SCG.
The hosts were on Sunday night forced to field a largely second string side that didn’t include David Warner, Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood or captain Aaron Finch who failed a late fitness test.
And yet, Australia put 194 runs on the board before its relatively inexperienced attack appeared to have completed the job.
But anything can happen in T20 cricket, and Sunday night was a brutal reminder of that for Justin Langer’s side.
India at one point needed 75 runs off just 38 balls to win the match. That’s when Hardik Pandya came to the crease and flipped the match on its head.
The master finisher by no means played a lone hand in India’s sudden resurgence. Captain Virat Kohli (40 off 24) hit AJ Tye for 18 runs in the 15th over to shift the momentum, but even then, he still left India needing 46 runs from the final 23 balls when debutant Daniel Sams claimed his wicket.
Shreyas Iyer (12 off 5) then stepped up with two boundaries at the end of the 17th over to leave Pandya with 25 more to chase off the final two overs.
The gun all-rounder needed only 10 balls, bringing up the winning runs with two lusty blows off the bowling of Sams. Pandya finished with 42 runs off 22 balls to be named man-of-the-match.
Matthew Wade - who stood in as captain for Finch - was Australia’s star performer for his 58 runs off 32 balls while Steve Smith added 46 off 38. Glenn Maxwell once again failed to replicate his ODI form but added 22 runs in a 13-ball cameo, while Moises Henriques made 26 from 17 before he was caught behind while swinging for the fences.
The finishing touches to Australia’s innings were added by Marcus Stoinis (16 off 7), playing his first match for Australia since suffering a side strain in the first ODI, and Sams (8 off 3), playing his first international ever.
India, however, started strong in the chase with openers Shikhar Dhawan and KL Rahul adding 56 runs until the latter was caught off the bowling of Tye for 30 off 22. Dhawan threatened to go on with the job until Adam Zampa removed him for 52 off 36 in the 12th over. Kohli carried on the fight but Australia seemed to have completed the job when Sams dismissed him for 40 runs off 24 balls.
That, however, didn’t account for the effect of Pandya who punished Australia’s bowlers late to claim an unassailable 2-0 lead for India in the three-match series.
No Australian took multiple wickets and many were expensive. Sams was hit for 11.18 an over, Tye 11.75 while Maxwell bowled one over that was smashed for 19 runs. The pick of Australia’s bowlers was Mitchell Swepson for his 1-25 off four overs.
The final white ball game of the summer takes place on Tuesday night at the SCG with Australia needing to snap a losing streak before the Test summer commences.
