Australia vs India 2018-19, 3rd T20I: 3 Takeaways from the match

India beat Australia by 6 wickets in the 3rd T20 international at the SCG yesterday to level the series 1-1. Australia had won the first T20I and the second one got washed away by rain. Australia batted first and scored 164 in the allotted 20 overs. Short top scored with 33 and captain Aaron Finch chipped in with 28. Wicketkeeper Carey scored 27 and for India, left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya took 4/36.

In reply, India reached the target with 2 balls to spare. Virat Kohli top scored with 61 and Shikhar Dhawan contributed 41 runs. Mitchell Starc took 1/26 and Adam Zampa took 1/22 for Australia.

We would now look at the 3 takeaways from the match:

#1 Pacers bowled too short and spinners looked the better bowling option

Krunal Pandya

Most of the fast bowlers of either side bowled too short and paid the price by leaking runs. Jasprit Bumrah and Khalil Ahmed were put to the sword by the Australian batsmen as they went for too many runs in the initial overs. Moreover, they could not bowl with an upright seam most of the times and caused little trouble to the batsmen.

The same story was repeated when the Indians batted as the Australian pacers except Starc bowled too short and conceded boundaries. The ball comes nicely onto the bat on Australian wickets and therefore if a bowler is not fast enough, he can be punished by the batsman off his back foot.

Starc bowled some nice in-swingers and yorkers and also got Dhawan trapped in front of the wicket. Marcus Stoinis, however, let the momentum slip from Australia’s hands by trying to bowl too many off-cutters with the new ball and conceding 22 runs in his first over.

The spinners, on the other hand, can be difficult to put away on big Australian grounds. A lot of Australian batsmen perished trying to play big shots against Krunal Pandya. Glenn Maxwell too, had KL Rahul caught in the long off as the latter tried to play a big shot. The spinners are likely to be crucial wicket-taking options in limited overs cricket on Australian grounds with big boundaries. They can also play a decisive role in the upcoming ODI series.

#2 Finch and Carey looked impressive for Australia

Aaron Finch

Skipper Finch is Australia’s best batsman in limited overs cricket and again showed his class by playing some superb shots off his back foot. It is very difficult to trouble a batsman of his class on such pitches unless a bowler is very fast. However, he should have been more patient and stayed on to play a bigger innings. Finch should be the batsman to watch out for in the upcoming ODI series also.

Newcomer Carey also impressed in the middle order and some of his drives on the offside were a treat to watch. He handled Krunal very well and hit some boundaries off his bowling. However, he too was guilty of throwing his wicket away after scoring 27, when he looked good for at least 20 more.

Australia could have posted a total in excess of 180 had Finch and Carey been more patient. Stoinis' lusty hitting in the death overs boosted the Australian total eventually, but they should have posted an even bigger total.

#3 Kohli and Dhawan won the match for India with their batting

Dhawan played a blistering knock of 41

Dhawan played some breathtaking shots in his innings. He hit some pull and hook shots in his innings which consisted of 2 sixes. One of his slog sweeps over the square leg boundary was incredibly good. Dhawan also hit some nice cover drives off Starc’s bowling to show his versatility as a batsman.

Kohli, on the other hand, built his innings patiently with ones and twos before cutting loose and reaching his half-century off 34 balls. His lofted straight drive off Andrew Tye, which went for a six over the long-off boundary, was astonishingly beautiful. However, Finch did not put enough pressure on him early on and allowed him to settle down and build the innings.

When there are only 120 deliveries to be bowled in an innings, one’s best bowler should bowl as many deliveries as possible to the best batsman of the opposition. However, in this case, Starc actually bowled very few deliveries to Kohli. Finch did not go for the kill and Kohli and Dinesh Karthik milked the Australian spinners for some easy singles early on in their innings.