AUS vs IND | Washington Sundar and Arshdeep Singh power India to series-levelling win

‌India levelled the five-match series with a five-wicket win over hosts Australia in the third T20I in Hobart on Sunday. Washington Sundar’s entertaining knock and Arshdeep Singh’s impressive spell were the highlights in India’s clinical win as the series stands well-poised at 1-1 with two games remaining.

After opting to bowl at the Bellerive Oval, India had an excellent start with left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh picking up two wickets in his first two overs. He dismissed Travis Head first, in the fourth ball of the innings, before sending back Josh Inglis as the home side were reduced to 14/2 inside three overs. But Tim David came up with a counterattacking plan, hitting the pacer for a four off the first ball he faced. He hit two boundaries in two overs off Jasprit Bumrah and also welcomed Varun Chakravarthy with a four and a six in between as the Aussies ended the powerplay at 43/2. The Royal Challengers Bengaluru batter continued his burst even after the six-over mark, smashing two sixes in Axar Patel’s first over, the second of which went a massive 129 metres down the ground before hitting the roof. In the next over, he brought up his fifty, in just 23 balls, after taking down Shivam Dube for three boundaries. Such was David’s blitzkrieg that captain Mitchell Marsh remained a mere spectator from the other end. The third wicket partnership between the two was worth 59 runs, in 35 balls, with David scoring 54 of those. Though Varun brought the visitors briefly back into the game with a double-wicket over, dismissing Marsh and Mitchell Owen, David continued to move the scoreboard at a brisk pace, alongside new batter Marcus Stoinis. The well-set David smashed Varun for two sixes in an over, while Stoinis repeated the feat against Dube as the hosts moved past the 100-run mark. David’s pulverising knock of 74 off 38 balls finally came to an end, after five sixes and eight fours, with Dube getting the prized scalp. However, Stoinis continued to haunt the visitors, as he took on his Punjab Kings mate Arshdeep, with three fours in the 18th over. The second boundary saw him complete his fifty in 32 balls, but the left-arm seamer got his revenge in the last over as Stoinis departed for a 39-ball 64, including eight fours and two sixes. His 64-run partnership with Matthew Short (26*) ensured that the Aussies finished at a formidable 186/6 after their allotted 20 overs. Arshdeep was the pick among the Indian bowlers with a spell of 3/35 in four overs, while Varun ended with two wickets.

In return, Abhishek Sharma (25) started in his usual merry fashion with a six off Xavier Bartlett in the first over before targeting Sean Abbott with two fours and a six in the next. But Nathan Ellis rushed the southpaw with an accurate bouncer as he miscued a pull straight to wicketkeeper Inglis. However, skipper Suryakumar Yadav made his intentions clear straight away with two sixes in his first four balls as India ended the powerplay at 64/2. But the Indian skipper could not tick longer as he was done in by a clever change of pace from Stoinis to depart for an 11-ball 24. The left-handed duo of Axar and Tilak Varma (29) kept the side in the game with a 35-run stand before the former became Ellis’ third wicket of the night. But in a sudden shift of momentum, Washington Sundar took the game away from the Aussies with his entertaining knock. The southpaw, who walked in with India at a tricky 111/4, with 76 runs further needed in 53 balls, got off the mark with a six in his second ball. The Gujarat Titans all-rounder smashed four sixes and three fours during his unbeaten 23-ball 49 as the visitors cruised home to end at 188/5 with nine balls to spare. Wicketkeeper-batter Jitesh Sharma also chipped in with a useful cameo of 22, while Ellis ended as the home side’s best bowler with a spell of 3/36 in four overs.