Cricket
Watch: Arshdeep defends 10 off last over, Wade livid with umpire as IND beat AUS | Cricket
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Arshdeep Singh’s final-over masterclass saved Avesh Khan the blushes as Matthew Wade ran into a roadblock in the fifth and final T20I of the recently concluded series between Team India and Australia on Sunday. Asked to defend 10 runs in the final six balls of the entertaining contest, an ice-cool Arshdeep showcased his death-over heroics to seal a thrilling six-run win for Suryakumar Yadav and Co. at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
A blazing knock from Rinku Singh and Axar Patel’s heroics in the 4th T20I turned the fifth match of the series into a dead rubber. Invited to bat first on a tacky pitch in Bengaluru, Suryakumar’s Team India posted a challenging total in the 20-over contest. India were reduced to 55-4 when in-form Rinku received his marching orders in the ninth over. Making sure that India recovered from a mini-batting collapse, premier batter Shreyas Iyer slammed a half-century before Axar Patel’s late flourish propelled the hosts to 160-8 in 20 overs.
ALSO READ: Suryakumar reveals reason behind Deepak Chahar’s non-selection for IND vs AUS 5th T20I, names Arshdeep as replacement
Mukesh, Arshdeep keep India in hunt
Though Iyer was convinced that he and Axar had powered India to a par total, the inexperienced fast-bowling duo of Arshdeep Singh and Mukesh Kumar had to do an awful lot to prevent Australia from recording a morale-boosting win on the final day of its India tour. The Australian side arrived in India for a bilateral One Day International (ODI) series before the 2023 World Cup. The visitors extended their stay to lift the record-extending sixth World Cup crown by outclassing India in the final.
Enters Wade
Talking about how Australia played its final match of the India tour, a belligerent half-century (54 off 36 balls) from Ben McDermott kept the 2021 World Cup winners in the hunt. Setting up Avesh Khan to bowl the 16th over, pacer Arshdeep dismissed McDermott on his final ball of the 15th. When skipper Wade arrived at the crease, Australia required 45 runs in the remaining 30 balls. With five wickets in hand, it was certainly Australia’s game to lose.
Mukesh’s game-changing over
Facing a returning Avesh Khan, who leaked 16 runs in his first two overs, Matthew Short combined with skipper Wade to steal 8 runs in the 16th over. With Australia needing 37 runs off the remaining 24 balls, pacer Mukesh was brought into the attack to bowl the 16th over. Mukesh missed his yorker on the second delivery to leak a boundary off Short. Pacer Mukesh made an instant comeback by getting the batter of Short on the next ball. The India speedster nailed his death over by handing Ben Dwarshuis a golden duck.
4,4,4 – Avesh leaks 15 runs
Leading the depleted Australian side in the final T20I of the series, wicketkeeper-batter Wade turned the tie on its head by creaming three boundaries off Avesh on the remaining three balls of the 18th over. From 32 runs in 18 balls to needing 17 off 12 – the equation was still in the favour of the Aussies when Suryakumar backed Mukesh to bowl his final over.
Over to Arshdeep says Mukesh with 7-run finish in 19th
On the first ball of the over, India almost had its man as Ruturaj Gaikwad made a darting run for a caught dismissal of the Aussies. His brave effort forced Wade to settle for a single. An on-song Wade was successful in smashing a boundary off Mukesh two balls later and the Australian skipper also retained the strike to face Arshdeep in the final-over thriller. In a match that will be remembered for what Arshdeep did in his final six balls, Mukesh dragged Team India to the 20th over by leaking just seven runs.
Wide not? Wade livid with umpire’s controversial call
Wade was furious with the umpire, who refused to declare Arshdeep’s fiery first-ball bumper a wide in the 20th over. Fondly remembered for smoking back-to-back sixes against Shaheen Shah Afridi in the T20 World Cup semi-final, Wade even brought out his trademark scoop shot but he failed to answer Arshdeep’s yorkers. On the third ball, Wade perished for 22 as Arshdeep revived India’s chances of clinching the humdinger. With a crucial wicket of Wade, yorker-specialist Arshdeep had to defend nine runs in the final two deliveries.
Arshdeep aces in the end
As they say, fortune favours the brave, Arshdeep ended up hurting himself by sticking his right hand to stop a certain boundary off the penultimate delivery. The deflected ball also hit umpire Virender Sharma following Arshdeep’s timely intervention. While Tim David had a smile on his face after the incident, Wade still had the wide-ball incident on his mind at the dugout. Winning his duel with Wade, pace ace Arshdeep only granted Australia three runs in the final over to seal India’s 4-1 series triumph.
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