HOBART: Washington Sundar enhanced his reputation as a T20 hitter with India batting in top gear through the innings to comfortably chase down a target of 187 for a series-levelling five-wicket win over Australia here on Sunday.
This is the first time that Australia have lost a T20 International at the Ninja Oval, earlier known as Bellerive Oval.
Tim David (74 off 38) bludgeoned the Indian bowling attack to take Australia to 186 for six after the hosts opted to bat.
With the firepower India possess, they were expected to overhaul the target but Nathan Ellis (3/36) made their job tougher with his sharp and testing spells.
India eventually got home in 18.3 overs.
Abhishek Sharma (25 off 16) once again produced a flurry of boundaries in the powerplay before skipper Suryakumar Yadav (24 off 11), Tilak Varma (29 off 26), Axar Patel (17 off 12) and Sundar (49 not out off 23) did their bit.
Jitesh Sharma (22 not out off 12), playing his first game of the series, got valuable time in the middle and got the job done alongside Sundar.
Washington, who is rather underrated as a power-hitter, showed he can use the long handle effectively with most of his sixes coming in the cow corner region.
The absence of Josh Hazlewood in the opposition camp — the pacer’s focus now shifts to the Ashes — also made India’s task a lot easier.
Barring Ellis, who troubled the Indian batters with short balls at express pace, the Australian bowlers were not able to test the Indians enough.
The fourth T20 of the five-match series will be played in Gold Coast on November 6.
Opting to bowl in nippy conditions, India started well courtesy Arshdeep Singh, who struck twice in a two-over spell on his return to the side.
His performance earned him the Player of the Match award.
Playing his first game of the series, India’s leading wicket-taker in the format removed the dangerous Travis Head and Josh Inglis to leave Australia at 14 for two.
However, India’s early advantage was negated by David (74 off 38), who targeted every Indian bowler in an exemplary show of power-hitting.
Four of his five sixes came down the ground while one was a slap over cover off Axar Patel.
Following his dismissal, the seasoned Marcus Stoinis (64 off 39) stepped up on the offensive to take Australia to a competitive total.
Whether it was the peerless Jasprit Bumrah or mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy, David just looked to dominate.
India sorely missed the services of injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya, as Shivam Dube endured a rough outing with the ball, taken to the cleaners by both David and Stoinis. The sixth bowling option, Washington Sundar, was sparingly used, while Abhishek Sharma bowled one over and conceded 13 runs — a move dictated by the absence of left-handers at the crease at that stage.
After Arshdeep’s twin strikes in the powerplay, Chakaravarthy applied the brakes on the scoring rate by dismissing Mitchell Marsh and Mitchell Owen in successive deliveries. The ball to Owen, which flicked through the fingers after pitching, was a peach that turned sharply to rattle the batter.
Arshdeep and Bumrah bowled tidy overs at the death, preventing Australia from crossing the 200-run mark, but David and Stoinis’ partnership had already done enough damage to put the hosts in a commanding position.
Teams:
Australia: Mitchell Marsh (c), Travis Head, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Mitchell Owen, Marcus Stoinis, Matt Short, Xavier Bartlett, Nathan Ellis, Sean Abbott, Matt Kuhnemann.
India: Shubman Gill, Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
