Arshdeep Singh’s magical final over helps India edge out Australia in fifth T20

The Indian men’s cricket team beat Australia by six runs in the fifth and final match of the five-match T20 series at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday.

Batting first, Shreyas Iyer (53 off 37 balls) rescued India after a poor start as the hosts managed to post 160/8 in their allotted 20 overs. The Australians looked favourites to chase down the score but a double-wicket over by Mukesh Kumar and a brilliant final over from Arshdeep Singh turned the match.

Having already wrapped up the five-match series 3-1 heading into the encounter at the Chinnaswamy, India made just one change to the starting XI which won them the last match in Raipur. Arshdeep Singh replaced Deepak Chahar, who had to fly back home because of a medical emergency.

Australia cricket captain Matthew Wade won the toss and sent India in to bat first.

Yashasvi Jaiswal, yet again, got India off to a breezy start but after producing some meaty shots across the boundary line, the youngster ended up skying one straight to Nathan Ellis off Jason Behrendorff.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav followed Yashasvi back to the pavilion in quick succession, with Ben Dwarshuis picking up both batters. Rinku Singh, who rescued India from a poor start in Raipur, couldn’t repeat his Friday’s performance and departed after contributing just six to the scoreboard.

With India reeling at 55/4, Shreyas Iyer managed to add some respectability to the Indian score with two nifty partnerships, first with Jitesh Sharma and then with Axar Patel. Iyer completed his half-century (53 off 37 balls) but his gritty innings came to an end after Ellis squared him up.

India’s innings finally ended with the score reading 160/8.

Travis Head hit Arshdeep for three straight boundaries and set the tone for the Australian chase from the get-go. Mukesh Kumar gave India the breakthrough and sent back Josh Philippe but Head continued his onslaught.

The introduction of spinners, however, turned the momentum. Ravi Bishnoi dismissed Head (28 off 18) and Aaron Hardie (6 off 10) in quick succession to reduce the Aussies to 55/3.

A 47-run partnership between Ben McDermott and Tim David then took Aussies past 100 before Axar Patel broke the partnership with David launching one straight to Avesh at deep square leg.

McDermott completed his half-century but couldn’t build on it as Arshdeep picked up the in-form batter to set up a grandstand finish. With the Aussies needing 45 runs in the final five overs, India began to turn the screws.

In the 17th over, Mukesh Kumar picked up Matthew Short and Dwarshuis in consecutive deliveries to reduce the Australians to 129/7. Australian captain Matthew Wade, however, picked up 15 off Avesh’s next over to turn the tide back in the visitors’ favour.

India had a golden opportunity to pile the pressure back on Australia as Wade’s hoist of Mukesh in the very first ball of the penultimate over looped up high. Gaikwad made up a lot of ground but his diving attempt fell just short.

With a paltry nine runs to defend in the final over, Arshdeep produced two dot balls on the trot, forcing Wade to force the issue. It proved to be the Aussie batter’s undoing as he ended up hitting one straight down Iyer’s throat at long-on.

Arshdeep, who finished with figures of 2/40, conceded just three off his next three balls to close out the match for India, who took the series 4-1.

India vs Australia fifth T20 brief scores: India 160/8 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 53, Axar Patel 31; Ben Dwarshuis 2/30; Jason Behrendorff 2/38) beat Australia 154/8 in 20 overs (Ben McDermott 54, Travis Head 28; Mukesh Kumar 3/32) by six runs.