IND vs AUS, 4th T20I: India vs Australia, Fourth Match- Who Said What?

India sealed the five-match T20I series against Australia as they beat them by 20 runs in the fourth game on Friday, December 01 at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium, Raipur. After being put in to bat first, India posted a decent total of 174/9 in their allotted 20 overs with valuable contributions from Yashasvi Jaiswal (37 off 28), Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 off 28), Jitesh Sharma (35 off 19) and Rinku Singh.

In reply, Australia were restricted to 154/7 in their allotted 20 overs with Matthew Wade top-scoring with 36* (23). Axar Patel starred with the ball for India with his three-wicket haul while Ravi Bishnoi also bowled an economical spell of 1/17 in four overs.

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Let’s take a look at the talking points of the match:

1. Rinku Singh continues his magnificent form

The southpaw walked in to bat with India in a precarious situation at 63/3 after 8.1 overs. Hence, he had a different role to play this time around of rebuilding the innings. Rinku first got involved in a crucial 48-run stand off 31 balls for the fourth wicket with Gaikwad.

He later added 56 runs for the fifth wicket off just 32 balls with Jitesh Sharma to take India’s total past 160. However, the 26-year-old got dismissed in the final over and missed out on his maiden T20I fifty getting dismissed for 46 (29).

2. Spinners turn the tide for India

The spin twins of Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi brought India back into the game after Australia got off to a good start of 40 runs in 3.1 overs. While Bishnoi accounted for Josh Philippe (8 off 7), Patel got rid of Travis Head (31 off 16), Ben McDermott (19 off 22), and Aaron Hardie (8 off 9) to register figures of 3/16 in four overs.

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3. Ben Dwarshuis stars with the ball for Australia

The left-arm seamer playing just in his second T20I of his career was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as he finished with figures of 3/40 in four overs. He first picked up the big scalp of Suryakumar Yadav (1 off 2) as his first wicket in international cricket and later dismissed a well-set Jitesh Sharma and Axar Patel (0 off 1) to spark a collapse in the death overs.

Losing Captain, Matthew Wade, Australia said:

We just didn't play spin very well, lost a few little too wickets in the middle as well. The guys came in did a good job but unfortunately we couldn't do the job with the bat. Just to continue to learn from the guys who are already established in the team and to have depth in the squad is really key as the T20 World Cup is round the corner.

Winning Captain, Suryakumar Yadav, India said:

Other than toss, everything (went well). Boys showed character and that was most important for us. We spoke in the meeting before the game to go out and express yourself and be fearless. I always love putting Axar under pressure and the way he bowled was unbelievable. The plan (during the death overs) was to go for the yorkers and then see what happens.

Player of the Match, Axar Patel (3/16, 4 overs), India said:

I was trying a lot of things when I was at home and it came out well today. I tried to stick to my strengths and wasn't really bothered even I had gotten hit and bowling stump-to-stump was the key to negate the dew factor. To stay attacking and be mentally strong is important as there is every chance to get hit in this format. When you go with an attitude to pick wickets, will feel much better. During the (injury) break I focussed on improving myself and add new variations to my bowling to remain successful at the highest level.