The T20I tournament between India and Australia wrapped up at the Sydney Cricket Ground today. The hosts prevented themselves from getting whitewashed as they beat the visitors in the 3rd T20I match by 12 runs. However, India sealed the series with a 2-1 lead, having won the previous two matches.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli chose to field first after winning the toss, but the decision seemed to evidently backfire. Thanks to their below-par fielding and a stupendous 80 run off 53 balls from Matthew Wade, Australia built a fine target of 186 runs. Glenn Maxwell also contributed his share by playing a beautiful knock of 54 runs. The star player perfectly made use of the lifelines he received due to some dropped catches and fielding glitches from the visitors.
As for the Indian team, Mithcell Swepson clobbered the batsmen with his leg-break. He claimed an outstanding 3-wicket haul in the early overs. Although Kohli’s 85 runs did well to minimize the damage, their falling batting line-up eventually hampered their chase. They could only manage to get to 174 runs by the end of 20 overs, eventually handing over the hosts a consolation win.
Mitchell Swepson won the Player of the Match for the 3rd T20I. Hardik Pandya won the Player of the Series title.
The two teams now prepare for the Test series commencing on Friday in Adelaide.
