Sydney, Dec 8 (UNI) Virat Kohli's brilliant fifty (85) went in vain as Australia defeated India by 12 runs in the third and final T20I to avoid a 3-0 whitewash against the visitors, at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG), here on Tuesday.
Batting first, a 53-ball 80 from Matthew Wade and a well made fifty from Glenn Maxwell (54) powered Australia to 186/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, Virat Kohli (85) led India’s chase and played a terrific knock of 85 runs (61 balls) but failed to take India over the line as wickets kept on falling from the other end.
A super spin spell from Swepson saw him take the big wickets of Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson and Shreyas Iyer to help Australia finish on a winning note, while the tourists took the series 2-1.
Chasing a huge total, India got off to a horrid start. KL Rahul departed with just the second ball of the innings as Maxwell had the India opener caught at long-on by Smith.
In Maxwell’s next over, the Maxwell-Smith combination almost paid off again but the latter dropped the India skipper Kohli on nine. Andrew Tye then put down a Kohli caught-and-bowled chance just two overs later.
Australia were made to pay as Kohli and Dhawan picked off the boundaries to reach 55/1 at the end of the powerplay, but Swepson came into the attack and struck to remove Dhawan (28) in his second over.
Kohli soon went to his seventh fifty against Australia in T20Is – the most fifty-plus scores a player has recorded against one team in the format.
In another eventful Swepson over, Sanju Samson (10) punched a low full toss to the hands of Smith at long-on.
Two balls later, Kohli sent one that looked to be going over Smith’s head – only for the Australian to produce a magical piece of fielding as he leapt over the ropes, tossing the ball back into play. Indian ended up with just three runs instead of six for his effort and, before the over was out, Swepson trapped Shreyas Iyer in front for a golden duck. His 3/23 were his best international figures to date.
At 100/4 from 13 overs, the pendulum appeared to swing in the favour of the home team but Kohli hit back-to-back sixes off Sams, and Pandya produced a remarkable shot to finish a big 16th over to keep the tourists in the hunt.
Pandya then struck a four and punched a six straight down the ground off Tye but with the home side under pressure, Adam Zampa returned for the 18th over to remove the dangerous finisher, who mistimed it to Finch at short third man.
Zampa almost removed Kohli with the last ball of the 18th, but the next over, Kohli found Sams running in from the cover-point boundary to take an excellent catch off the bowling of Tye.
India were left with a bit too much to do in the final over as Sean Abbott had Sundar caught by Tye and although Thakur cleared the fence, India could only reach 174/7 in reply, ending an entertaining series.
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