Australia vs India 3rd T20: Kohli, Dhawan script series-levelling win for India

Sydney: Virat Kohli (61 not out) and Shikhar Dhawan (41) were the top-scorers for India as they beat Australia by six wickets in the third T20 here on Sunday, thereby levelling the series 1-1.

The Men in Blue got off to a strong start, but lost Dhawan and Rohit Sharma (23) in a gap of just one over.

Even KL Rahul (14) and Rishabh Pant (0) could not perform, but that was not a problem for the Indian skipper as he along with Dinesh Karthik (22 not out) ensured that the visitors would cross the finish line.

India 108-4 after 13.1 overs

WICKET! Rishabh Pant is caught behind by Alex Carey as Andrew Tye celebrates his dismissal. Out for a golden duck.

India 108-3 after 13 overs

WICKET! Coulter-Nile takes a good catch at long-off as Glenn Maxwell gets the wicket of KL Rahul.

India 67-2 after 6.5 overs

WICKET! Rohit Sharma departs for 23 as he is clean bowled by Adam Zampa.

India 67-1 after 5.3 overs

WICKET! Mitchell Starc traps Shikhar Dhawan lbw as the Indian departs for 41 runs.

Australia innings

Krunal Pandya was in top form for India after he took four wickets to limit Australia to 164-6.

With Aaron Finch (28) and D ‘Arcy Short (33) providing a dangerous start for the hosts, Kuldeep Yadav began with dismissing the captain in the ninth over of the innings. At the time, even with Australia at 68-1, they looked set for a total of 200.

However, that was not to happen as Krunal saw off Short and Ben McDermott (0) in the 10^th over.

Krunal’s party was not over as he also removed Glenn Maxwell (13) and Alex Carey (27) to restrict the hosts to 131-6.

Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, did some good fielding when he ran-out Chris Lynn for 13 runs with the Aussies losing their sixth wicket.

Australia 131-6 after 17.2 overs

WICKET! Bumrah does no mistake in running out Chris Lynn for 13.

Australia 119-5 after 15.5 overs

WICKET! Krunal picks up his fourth, as Alex Carey drives it straight to the hands of captain Kohli at deep midwicket.

Australia 90-4 after 13.1 overs

Krunal is on fire! Rohit Sharma takes a fine catch at long on as Maxwell departs for 13

Australia 73-3 after 9.2 overs

Krunal is on a hat-trick! Similar delivery, same result as McDermott departs for a duck.

Australia 73-2 after 9.1 overs

WICKET! D 'Arcy Short is struck lbw by Krunal Pandya, who dismisses him for 33 runs.

Australia 68-1 after 8.3 overs

WICKET! India get the breakthrough, with Kuldeep Yadav dismissing Finch courtesy a Krunal Pandya catch at short-fine leg.

Australia 52-0 after 7 overs

FIFTY UP FOR AUSSIES! This has been a memorable start for the hosts as D 'Arcy Short and Aaron Finch look to keep up the momentum.

Preview

Virat Kohli-led India will only have one thing in mind when they take on Aaron Finch’s Australia in the 3^rd T20 at Sydney Cricket Ground here on Sunday- to level the series and deny hosts the prize.

With the series 1-0 in favour of the hosts following their thrilling four-run win in Brisbane, rain played spoilsport halfway through the second game in Melbourne with the match being called off.

The Men in Blue, meanwhile, will look to avoid a T20I series loss for the first time since 2017, when they last lost to West Indies in a one-off game.

They have in fact won seven T20I series since then, with their recent triumph coming against West Indies at home.

After a poor showing in Brisbane, Krunal Pandya came back with figures of 1/26 in Melbourne, where most of the Indian bowlers did a good job.

Should the Australian top-order falter, the likes of Glenn Maxwell and Ben McDermott will have to step up.

While Maxwell played a match-winning knock of 46 in the first game, McDermott remained unbeaten on 32 in Melbourne despite the match being abandoned.

Toss:

Australia won the toss and elected to bat.

Playing XI

Squads:

India: Virat Kohli (c), Khaleel Ahmed, Jasprit Bumrah, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan, Dinesh Karthik, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Krunal Pandya, Rishabh Pant (wk), Lokesh Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav

Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey (wk), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Where to watch the matches live?

Live telecast: The matches can be seen live on Sony Six (English commentary) and Sony Ten 3 (Hindi commentary).

Live streaming: It can also be streamed live on Sony LIV, the digital platform on the internet.