Carrara (Gold Coast): India defended a modest total with a stifling bowling performance for a 48-run win over Australia in the fourth T20 International to grab an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series here on Thursday.
The architects of India’s win were Axar Patel and Shivam Dube who shared two wickets each to put Australia on the backfoot in the run chase.
Washington Sundar struck thrice towards the end as India comfortably defended 168 with Australia folding up for 119 in 18.2 overs after being 91/3 at one stage.
The final T20 will be played in Brisbane on November 8. The opening match of the series was washed out in Canberra.
Openers Matthew Short (30 off 24) and Mitchell Marsh (25 off 19) got Australia off the blocks smoothly in the run chase but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs pushed the hosts to a point of no return.
After Axar trapped Short in the powerplay, Dube removed Marsh and Tim David (14 off 9) in successive overs to make a telling impact on the game. The wicket of Marsh came off his second ball before he surprised David with a short ball in the following over.
Arshdeep Singh too picked a wicket in the middle overs and the game seemed done and dusted when Glenn Maxwell saw his exposed stumps disturbed off the last ball of Varun Chakaravarthy’s fourth over.
The stellar performance came after a middling batting effort. India never got the momentum they needed after a wicket-less powerplay to end with an underwhelming 167 for eight.
Abhishek Sharma (28 off 21) and Shubman Gill (46 off 39) put on 56 for the opening wicket before India lost their way.
Promoted to number three to counter Adam Zampa, Shivam Dube (22 off 18) could not make a big impact while skipper Suryakumar Yadav (20 off 10) departed after hitting a couple of sixes.
Pacer Nathan Ellis (3/21 in 4 overs) was the pick of the Australian bowlers, using his variations effectively.
Zampa leaked 45 runs in his four overs but more importantly, he got three wickets including the dangerous Abhishek.
Abhishek stepped out to Zampa in the second ball of his opening spell and dispatched it down the ground for a maximum.
The southpaw tried to hit another one out of the park two balls later but was caught at long on.
Abhishek could have been out off the game’s second ball by left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis but Xavier Bartlett grassed the early opportunity.
Abhishek’s friend and opening partner Gill, who is yet to make an impact in the series, had to work hard for his runs.
He released some pressure with a massive hit off Marcus Stonis in the cow corner region before falling to a back of the hand slower one from Ellis.
The wickets kept falling thereafter, robbing the innings of any flow. Axar Patel (21 not out off 11) got the much-needed boundaries towards the end to push the total past 160.
India lost four wickets for 42 runs in the last five overs but a stellar bowling performance carried them over the line.
