AUS Vs IND, 3rd T20I Live: After KL Rahul's Fall, Shikhar Dhawan And Virat Kohli Take Charge

Letting off is a crime in the cut-throat world of sport. And India, under Virat Kohli, will never do that. Also, considering the upcoming Test series and their series defeat in the ODIs, it's important that India sign off the T20I series with a win. The visitors have a really good chance to become the first side in history to whitewash the Aussies Down Under 3-0 in the shortest format of the game. They were clinical in the first two matches and as expected, will produce another fine performance. Now, it's to the Aussies to change this narrative. Follow live cricket scores and updates for the AUS vs IND T20I series finale here:

India Innings | Target 187

4:24 PM IST: Australia, searching for wickets, brought back Glenn Maxwell. Four off the first ball as Shikhar Dhawan found the gap at backward point with his reverse sweep. Four singles and eight from the over. IND - 69/1 (8).

4:20 PM IST: Bowling change. Mitchell Swepson, leg-spinner, on. Six singles. IND - 61/1 (7).

4:17 PM IST: Sean Abbott continued. Virat Kohli hit the first ball for a four, through extra cover. A single, then Shikhar Dhawan hit his first four, a thick edged and to third man boundary. Fifty-run stand between the two in 32 balls. Dhawan then clobbered the sixth for a four. Straight. 15 runs from the over. IND - 55/1 (6).

4:12 PM IST: Double bowling change. Andrew Tye, right-arm pacer,  on and another life for Virat Kohli. Half-chance, to be fair. Kohli hit back the first ball it won't stick. India skipper then hit the fourth ball for a four, to third man. Seven runs from the over. IND - 40/1 (5).

4:08 PM IST: Bowling change. Daniel Sams, left-arm pacer, on. Virat Kohli flicked the first ball for a four. Ten runs from the over. IND - 33/1 (4).

4:06 PM IST: Another update on Will Pucovski.

4:03 PM IST: Glenn Maxwell continued, and Steve Smith dropped his bete noire Virat Kohli at deep mid-wicket. Kohli came down the pitch and lofted the second ball, but Steve couldn't hold to it. Easy one. Eight runs from the over. IND - 23/1 (3).

4:01 PM IST: Sean Abbott, right-arm medium, shared the new ball. One busy over. 11 runs from it, including a three off the last ball. IND - 15/1 (2)

3:55 PM IST: WICKET!

And a disastrous start for India. Glenn Maxwell had KL Rahul caught at deep midwicket by Steve Smith for a duck. Virat Kohli joined Shikhar Dhawan. Four singles.

3:50 PM IST: Players are out in the centre for the second half of the match. KL Rahul and Shikhar Dhawan to open for India. Glenn Maxwell has got the new ball.

3:46 PM IST: Matthew Wade's second consecutive half-century was well-complemented by Glenn Maxwell's blazing strokeplay as Australia posted a competitive 186 for 5. Wade, who has played all his big T20 knocks against India, smashed his way to 80 off 53 balls with the help seven fours and two sixes. Maxwell, who struggled with his timing initially, also got into the act during the last six overs with a 35-ball-54 and a third-wicket stand of 90 runs in 8.4 overs with Wade.

India's bowling heroes were Washington Sundar (2/34 in 4 overs) and Thangarasu Natarajan (1/33 in 4 overs). Natarajan, despite a few boundaries conceded in the final over, was pretty impressive.

Australia Innings | Toss - India

3:31 PM IST: T Natarajan with the last over. A full toss and the wicket of reverse-sweeping Glenn Maxwell (54 off 36), bowled. D'Arcy Short joined Moises Henriques. The new man hit the third ball for a four, to sweeper cover. And run off the fourth ball. Good throw from Virat Kohli to KL Rahul. Short made seven off three. Four off the fifth ball as new man Daniel Sams found the gap at long off. 11 runs from the over. AUS - 186/5. Natarajan's figures: 1/33. 47 runs and three wickets in the last five overs.

3:25 PM IST: New man Moises Henriques started with a four, to sweeper cover as Washington Sundar made a mess. Glenn Maxwell got a life, dropped at short third man. Seven runs from the over. AUS - 175/3 (19).

3:22 PM IST: WICKET!

Shardul Thakur with his last over. A leading-edge to third man as Glenn Maxwell took a single. Wicket. LBW. And Matthew Wade quickly reviewed it. No bat involved, and hitting wickets. Out. Wade made 80 off 52, with seven fours and two sixes. AUS - 169/3 (18.2).

3:19 PM IST: T Natarajan on with his penultimate over. Matthew Wade took a three off the first ball, then the left-arm seamer kept Glenn Maxwell quiet. A wide after three balls, then a single. Maxwell hit the fifth ball for a four to deep mid-wicket, and fifty in 31 balls. A single to end the 11-over. AUS - 168/2 (18).

3:13 PM IST: Shardul Thakur on with his third. A dot to Glenn Maxwell, missing his reverse sweep. Virat Kohli took a review at the last moment for a caught behind. KL Rahul and bowler convinced. Nothing. Matthew Wade took a single off the fourth, and Maxwell changed his bat. A slice, and Deepak Chahar dropped him at backward point. Maxwell hit the next for a six to deep square leg. 12 from the over. AUS - 157/2 (17).

3:07 PM IST: Deepak Chahar on with his last over. He's lucky not to give away a free hit after bowling a beamer to Matthew Wade. Six runs from the over. Chahar's figures: 0/34. AUS - 145/2 (16).

3:03 PM IST: Yuzvendra Chahal on with his last over. Glenn Maxwell hit the third ball for a six, over the bowler's head. A wide, then another six off the fifth, to over deep square leg. KL Rahul appealed for a caught behind. Chahal quiet. Reviewed. Nothing happened. Ball only clipped the pads. 15 runs from the over. Chahal's figures: 0/41. AUS - 139/2 (15).

Matthew Wade and Maxwell have added 60 runs in 33. And 57 of those came in the last five overs.

2:57 PM IST: Shardul Thakur continued. A single, then Sanju Samson pulled off a stunning feat of fielding, restricting a certain six to a double at long-on. It's like converting a double to a six for India. Maxwell is not happy. A dot, then a single. Matthew Wade hit the fifth for a six, over long-on. 10 runs from the over. AUS - 124/2 (14).

2:52 PM IST: Yuzvendra Chahal returned for his third over. And Glenn Maxwell show on. A wide, then two singles. Maxwell hit the third for a four, a reverse sweep. Another reverse sweep, for three as he failed to time it. A single, then the WICKET. Massive wicket. Caught behind. Last ball of the over, and a skier. And it turned out to be a no-ball. Errant front foot. Last thing you want against Maxwell. It was 11 runs and a wicket, but ended up 13 for none. AUS - 114/2 (13).

2:46 PM IST: Bowling change. Shardul Thakur on with his right-arm pace. And what a welcome from Matthew Wade. A massive six over mid-wicket. A four off the fifth as Glenn Maxwell got his first by flicking over short fine. 14 runs from the over. AUS - 101/2 (12).

2:41 PM IST: Here's more on tonight's big UCL match: Legends collide again

2:39 PM IST: T Natarajan returned for his second. A massive shout, and a belated review for LBW against Matthew Wade (50 off 34), who just his another fifty against India. Very tight. Hitting the leg. A bit of deliberation in the middle as the TV umpire announced that Kohli was late. Kohli is pissed. Still a very fine over. Five from it. AUS - 87/2 (11).

2:33 PM IST: Glenn Maxwell joined Matthew Wade. Nine runs from that over, including a four off the second ball. The over started with a half-chance against Steve, who came down the pitch. KL Rahul missed it.

2:30 PM IST: WICKET!

Washington Sundar, on with his last over, got the bid wicket of Steve Smith (24 off 23). Caught behind. AUS - 79/2 (9.4).

2:27 PM IST: Yuzvendra Chahal on with his second over. Three singles, a dot, then two more singles. Brilliant over. AUS - 73/1 (9).

45 runs in the last five overs.

2:23 PM IST: Washington Sundar returned for his penultimate over.  Three singles, and Matthew Wade pulled the fourth for a four. Two singles to end the nine-run over. AUS - 68/1 (8).

Wade and Steve Smith have added 54 in 38 balls as Aussies take control.

2:19 PM IST: Powerplay done and dusted. Double bowling change. Yuzvendra Chahal on with his leg-spin. Busy one. Eight runs from it, two doubles and four singles. AUS - 59/1 (7).

2:14 PM IST: Bowling change. T Natarajan on. Busy over. Six runs from it, including a three off the fifth ball. Virat Kohli chased it down to deep. Nicely timed shot from Steve Smith. AUS - 51/1 (6). 

2:09 PM IST: Deepak Chahar on with his third over. Mathew Wade hit the first two balls for fours, through mid-wicket and covers. Then, a wide. And two quick singles. Virat Kohli changing the field. Long chase for Washington Sundar to fine leg, three runs. Another chase, this time by Kohli, three runs. 17 runs from the over. AUS - 45/1 (5).

2:02 PM IST: Washington Sundar continued. Five wides to start with. Poor work from KL Rahul, the wiketkeeper. Matthew Wade followed it up with a four, behind square. 12 runs from the over. AUS - 28/1 (4).

1:57 PM IST: Deepak Chahar continued. Brilliant over. Ball talking. Two singles. AUS - 16/1 (3)

1:55 PM IST: Wriddhiman Saha gets half-century before Test series opener. READ 1st practice match report.

1:53 PM IST: WICKET! Washington Sundar struck early. Matthew Wade hit the first ball, then Aaron Finch tried to loft one over mid-off. Failed, and catch for Hardik Pandya. Our for a duck. Steve Smith joined Wade in the centre. Five runs and a wicket from the over. AUS -14/1 (2).

1:48 PM IST: Hint of swing, and a couple of very good deliveries. But Matthew Wade got lucky to get a four, over first slip. A dot, then the left-hander pulls the fifth for a four. Nine runs from the over.

1:43 PM IST: New ball with Deepak Chahar.

1:40 PMIST: Players are out. Aaron Finch and Matthew Wade to open for Australia.

1:34 PM IST: And here's everything you need to know about tonight's UEFA Champions League clash between Barcelona and Juventus, featuring the GOATs --  Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

1:26 PM IST: Here's what the captains said - 

Virat Kohli, India: "We had a good game last time and for the bowling line-up as well we wanted to be more professional and test ourselves. It's been a really good year for us in terms of T20 cricket, if we keep staying ahead of the opposition, and as a group we want to make sure we keep getting those results and win games of cricket."

Aaron Finch, Australia: "Would have bowled first as well. It's a used wicket and hopefully we'll bat well tonight. Expect the spinners to play key role in the middle overs... Somewhere around 190 is what we are after and you got to be careful as this is a tough ground to defend."

1:19 PM IST: And one change for Aussies. Finch replacing Marcus Stoinis.

Teams:

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Matthew Wade (wk), Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, D Arcy Short, Moises Henriques, Daniel Sams, Sean Abbott, Mitchell Swepson, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

India: KL Rahul (wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, T Natarajan, Yuzvendra Chahal.

1:14 PM IST: TOSS!

Virat Kohli won the toss and opted to bowl first. India are unchanged. Aaron Finch's back.

1:10 PM IST: Cold conditions, around 15 degrees, and Indians wouldn't like. Still a flat pitch, as expected.

1:02 PM IST: First glimpse from the stadium and Aarong Finch is warming up. He's likely to return for the finale. And Josh Hazlewood is also in contention.

12:55 PM IST: Not a good sight, but here's how Will Pucovski got hit

Fingers crossed for Will Pucovksi, who's retired hurt after this nasty blow to the helmet.

Live scores from #AUSAvIND: https://t.co/MfBZAvzAkr pic.twitter.com/pzEBTfipF2

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 8, 2020

12:53 PM IST: Toss and team news coming up...

12:48 PM IST: The practice match at Drummoyne Oval, Sydney ended in a draw after three days. Scores: IND A [247-9 d (93) & 189-9 d], AUS A [306-9 d (95) & 52-1 (15)]

12:44 PM IST: Bad news for Australia. Aussie talent Will Pucovski just got hit on the hit, again. He tried to duck a Kartik Tyagi delivery but ended up coping. It's reportedly the ninth time that he has been hit on the head.

12:40 PM IST: India sealed the three-match T20I series on Sunday with a Hardik Pandya special. After a disappointing start to the tour, India hit back to turn the table on the hosts. Now, they can inflict more woes on the Aussies, who have lost three matches on the trot, across formats -- two in Canberra and one in Sydney.

If India win the third and final T20I match, it will be Australia's second 0-3 series defeat to India. In 2016, India lost the ODIs, then took the T20Is 3-0 under MS Dhoni.

Virat Kohli, who will play one more match before returning home, will hope for a disciplined outing from his side. A 3-0 win in the T20Is will boost their confidence as they get ready for the four-match Border-Gavaskar Test series.