India vs Australia: Virat Kohli, Krunal Pandya shine as visitors level series in Sydney
Australia were able to score 164/6 with Krunal Pandya taking four wickets but the visitors made short work of the chase with Kohli scoring a brilliant half century.
India skipper Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya were the top performers for India as they defeated Australia by six wickets to level the three-match series 1-1 in the third T20 International in Sydney on Sunday.
Batting first, Australia were able to score 164/6 with Krunal Pandya taking four wickets but the visitors made short work of the chase with Kohli scoring a brilliant half century.
Rohit Sharma (23 off 16 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (41 off 22 balls) provided India with a perfect start as the opening pair shared a partnership of 67 runs off 33 balls. The duo did not let the Australia pacers settle down as Nathan Coulter-Nile and Mitchell Starc went for 20 and 22 runs respectively in consecutive overs.
After the first dismissal, Virat Kohli walked in and what followed was an absolute masterclass. The India skipper paced his innings brilliantly and with 61 off 41 deliveries, he guided the visitors to a comfortable victory. Although India lost the wickets of Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul in quick succession, Virat was not bothered and he played an impressive knock with four fours and two sixes to make sure that his side cruised to victory with two balls to spare.
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Earlier, Krunal Pandya took a career-best four-wicket haul, helping India restrict Australia to 164 for six.
Pandya’s orthodox left-arm spin came in handy during the middle overs after the hosts had sped to 68-0 in the ninth over. With figures of four for 36, he was a tad expensive again but got India the timely breakthroughs.
Australia, who opted to bat, made one change to their line-up with Mitchell Starc coming in for Jason Behrendorff. India picked an unchanged eleven.
Aaron Finch (28) and D’Arcy Short (33) then provided a cautious start to the innings, albeit they picked up momentum quickly as the Indian pacers struggled in conditions vastly different from Brisbane and Melbourne.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-33) and Khaleel Ahmed (0-35) both proved expensive, while first-change Jasprit Bumrah (0-38) too didn’t stem the flow of runs, as Australia raced to 49-0 at the end of powerplay overs.
(With agency inputs)
