IND vs AUS, 5th T20I: India vs Australia, Fifth Match- Who Said What?

Team India’s young blood edged past the Australians by six runs in the fifth and final T20I of the series on Sunday, December 03 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru and completed a 4-1 series win. After being put in to bat first, India managed to post a fighting score of 160/8 in their allotted 20 overs riding on a half-century from Shreyas Iyer.

In reply, Australia were restricted to 154/8 in their allotted 20 overs as all the bowlers shared wickets among themselves.

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Here are the talking points of the match:

1. Shreyas Iyer rescues Indian innings

After being put in to bat first, India were left reeling at 55/4 in 9.1 overs. However, a brilliant half-century from Shreyas Iyer (53 off 37) helped his side reach the 160-run mark. Iyer’s knock was studded with five fours and two sixes as he got involved in a crucial partnership of 42 (24) with Jitesh Sharma (24 off 16) and 46 (33) with Axar Patel.

2. Axar Patel’s all-round show

Coming in to bat at number 7, Patel played a brilliant cameo of 31 off 21 balls clobbering two fours and a six in his innings. He further finished as the most economical bowler from India for the second consecutive game with figures of 1/14 in four overs. Patel scalped the big wicket of the dangerous Tim David (17 off 17) and was deservedly awarded Player of the Match.

3. Mukesh Kumar’s game-changing double-wicket over

Australia needed 32 to win from 22 balls having five wickets in hand and were cruising for a win. However, Mukesh Kumar dismissed Matthew Short (16 off 11) and Ben Dwarshuis (0 off 1) off consecutive deliveries to turn the tide in India’s favour. The right-arm seamer finished with a career-best figures of 3/32 in four overs and was the pick of the bowlers from India.

Also Read: Twitter Reactions: Bowlers hold their nerve in Bengaluru to seal a 4-1 series victory over Australia

Losing Captain, Matthew Wade, Australia said:

I thought we bowled relatively well. We kept them to a total that probably should have been chased at this ground. Disappointing last five or six overs (with the bat). There's always a temptation to get a lefty against the two spinners. Projecting forward to the World Cup, my role is going to be down there with Tim David and Marcus Stoinis. Looking forward to the World Cup. My job is try and get us home in situations like tonight. Would have been nice to get the result tonight. 3-2 would have been probably a reflection of where the series was, we played some good cricket, got outplayed at times but we learn a lot. McDermott bounced back from his first game to the second game tonight. Guys like Jason Behrendorff, Dwarshuis, Sangha had a real impact in this series. You don't get harder conditions than this.

Winning Captain, Suryakumar Yadav, India said:

Player of the Match, Axar Patel (31 (21), 1/14, 4 overs), India said:

Today was fun. There was dew in the first four matches. Today, it was a tailor-made wicket for me. After a couple of games, I was able to find my rhythm. (Bowling with Ravi Bishnoi) We played a few games together for Gujarat as well. We complement each other, hope this partnership grows.

Player of the Series, Ravi Bishnoi (9 wickets, 5 matches), India said: