‘Ye hoti hai gendbaazi’ – Fans react as India beat Australia by 6 runs in 5th T20I, seal series 4-1

India and Australia clashed against each other in the final match of the 5-match T20I series at the M Chinnawamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, December 3. The Men in Blue defeated the Kangaroos by 6 runs as Arshdeep Singh successfully defended 10 runs in the last over and helped India to win the series 4-1.

Talking about the match, Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first. India had a strong start, but Australia quickly turned the tide by dismissing openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad within the powerplay overs. Jason Behrendorff took out Jaiswal for 21(15), while Gaikwad fell to Ben Dwarshuis after scoring 10(12). Dwarshuis continued his impact by dismissing Suryakumar Yadav in the following over, sending the Indian captain back to the pavilion for 5(7).

Australia’s bowlers kept making breakthroughs, with Tanveer Sangha removing Rinku Singh for 6(8), leaving India struggling at 55/4 in 9.1 overs. Shreyas Iyer played a crucial innings, smashing 53 off 37 balls and guiding India to a competitive total of 160/8. He received support from Jitesh Sharma, who contributed a quick 24 off 16 balls, and Axar Patel, who scored 31 in 21 deliveries during the middle overs.

Brilliant bowling display by India

In the 2nd innings, Mukesh Kumar and Ravi Bishnoi made early injections as Australia lost both openers Travis Head and Josh Phillipe in the powerplay overs. Mukesh removed Phillipe for run a ball four, while Bishnoi cleaned up Head for 28(18). The young leg-spinner didn’t stop and sent another Australian batter back to the pavilion in the 7th over.

However, Ben McDermott and Tim David stitched a 47-run stand for the 4th wicket with McDermott hitting a brilliant half-century. Just when it looked like Australia would chase the target easily, Axar Patel provided the much-needed breakthrough by dismissing David in the 14th over. McDermott also departed after scoring 54 runs.

Mukesh Kumar then removed Matthew Short (16 off 11) and Ben Dwarshuis (0) in consecutive deliveries. Arshdeep Singh in the end was asked to defend 10 runs and Australian skipper Matthew Wade was on strike. The left-arm pacer dismissed Wade in the 3rd delivery and conceded only 3 runs in the last over.

Here’s how fans reacted: