Team India secured a crucial win in the fourth T20I against Australia to seal the series, ahead of Sunday’s dead rubber in Bengaluru. After winning the first two matches, the hosts lost the third game in Guwahati. However, Rinku Singh‘s quickfire 46 and a spin attack led by Axar Patel helped India to a series-clinching 20-run win. The young Indian team, led by Suryakumar Yadav, responded well to the pressure to outplay the visitors in Raipur.
After being put into bat, India posted 174-9 thanks to Rinku’s 29-ball blitz, despite late strikes by the Australian fast bowlers.
Axar then returned figures of 3-16 with his left-arm spin as the hosts kept down Australia to 154-7 to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.
However, an Australian fan hogged all the limelights for his antics inside the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium.
The fan was seen chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jai” and “Vande Mataram”, with the Indian crowd inside the stadium grooving along.
Australian cricket fan chanting “Bharat Mata Ki Jay” & “Vande Mataram” at Raipur. pic.twitter.com/BpWLloM40h
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 2, 2023
“Other than (the) toss, everything went our way. Winning was the big boost, especially the way the boys showed character. Everyone expressed themselves irrespective of the situation, and that’s what I told them: be fearless, play your game and we’ll see what happens,” India captain Suryakumar was quoted as saying by AFP.
Australia were without their ODI World Cup stars, including Glenn Maxwell, who hit a match-winning 104 not out in match three, and Marcus Stoinis.
Head remains the only player from the World Cup-winning team in the Australian side.
Despite the defeat, Australia captain Matthew Wade said that the series has been a great learning curve for his young team, especially with the T20 World Cup just around the corner.
“We want to continue to learn about the players under the established players since the (T20) World Cup is around the corner, so depth around the squad will be key,” said Wade.
(With AFP Inputs)
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