#640 Virat-Krunal-Dhawan give India series leveling win in Sydney in T20 series; England 1 session away from 3-0 whitewash win in Lanka; Haris and Babar give Pakistan a score which can force a win in 2nd test vs NZ; Australia bag world women’ sT20 championship title again and more..:-)
India had to win final T20 to draw the series. Australia won the toss and chose to bat in Sydney. Finch and Short hammered Indian pacers all over the park early on. Rohit dropped Short which didn’t help too. It was Kuldeep again who got India back by dismissing Finch for 28. Krunal then turned the match by dismissing Short and Mcdermott of consecutive balls. Inside 5 balls, Australia were reduced from 68-0 to 73-3. Some good hitting by Stoinis again with good support from Carey and Couter nile gave Australia a score of 164. 57 came of last 5 overs which was very handy for Australia. Dhawan and Rohit played first 5 overs like they played on another pitch. They belted and pulled Australia from their presence with a stream of boundaries. Dhawan was playing like a man possessed. His timing was impeccable. Indiagot their fifty runs by 28 balls itself. By end of 5 overs, India had made 62 runs which included an over by SToinis where 22 runs was scored. Australia needed a wicket. Starc got one by trapping Dhawan. Next 9 balls turned the match a bit. There were 9 dot balls including wicket of Rohit by Zampa. That got Australia back in the game. India 67-2 after 7. KL Rahul struggled again. Kohli kept rotating the strike. Rahul got dismissed by Maxwell. Tye dismissed Pant next ball. India from 67-0 were reduced to 108-4. India needed calm hands as 57 was needed of 41 balls still. Dinesh Karthik gave Kohli company. India found tough to hit Maxwell and Zampa. They had target a fast bowler. Tye was the bowler. 52 was needed of last 5. Tye gave away 12 runs. 38 was needed of 24. It came down to 27 from 18 and 16 from 12. India approached a strategy of going for singles and targeting 1 ball for boundary. That worked. 6 was needed of last ball. Kohli hit the winnings runs. His unbeaten 61 gave India a series levelling win. DK helped with 18 ball 22. Rahul and Pant wasted opportunities again. Krunal was MOM for his 4 fer and Dhawan man of the series which was expected. Focus now shifts to test series which starts on 6-Dec. Virat has remained unbeaten 14 times in T20 while chasing and India has never lost even one of these matches. That’s staggering stat.
Lanka reduced England to 39-4 in 2nd innings. Lead was still under 150. But just like in first 2 test matches, England middle order and tail wagged. Fifties by Butler and good cameos by Foakes and Stokes helped England score 230. Target was 327 for Lanka. They fumbled again as England spinners reduced them 54-4 by end of day 3. Classy centuries by Haris Sohail and Babar Azam gave Pakistan a solid score of 41-5. They declared. NZ were 24-0 by end of day 2. Pakistan played pretty slow. They should have batted fast considering it is them who need to force win in this match. Australia beat England by 8 wickets to win women’s T20 world cup. England just managed 105. Baring Wyatt and Knight, nobody reached double digits. They were placed decently at 64-3 before they collapsed. It was like Indian batting in SF. Australia won with ease by 8 wickets with 29 balls to spare.
