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AUS vs IND 3rd T20: India clinch thriller to become World No 1

MS Dhoni's boys complete series sweep, beat hosts by seven wickets in Sydney.

Sydney: A fabulous finish from Yuvraj Singh (15) and Suresh Raina (49) ensured Team India secured a series sweep, here against Australia in the final T20 on Sunday.

With this win India become the No 1 T20 side.

Electing to bat first Australia piled up a mammoth 197-5, courtesy stand-in skipper Shane Watson's unbeaten 124.

Chasing the mammoth total, Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan were off to a flier. Dhawan didn't have a good day but scored at the speed of knots. His knock of 26 coming in just the 9 deliveries, including 4 boundaries.

Here's how the action unfolded:

India: 200-3 (20 overs)

20th over: India 200-3 (Raina 49, Yuvraj 15)

Raina, the finisher! Yuvraj showed glimpses of 2011 World Cup while Suresh Raina finished things off, breaking Australia's winning streak at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

19th over: India 181-3 (Raina 41, Yuvraj 5)

Yuvi doesn't connect! Watson has bowled a brilliant over giving away just 5 runs.

18th over: India 176-3 (Raina 40, Yuvraj 1)

Smart Raina! Suresh Raina's smart shots has put India in a good place.

17th over: India 164-3 (Raina 28, Yuvraj 1)

Shrewd Watson! Watson is playing mind games with Suresh Raina. The game looks to be heading for a tight finish.

16th over: India 156-3 (Raina 22, Yuvraj 0)

Tye shines! Tye's bowling some good lengths here, the 16th over going for 9 runs.

15th over: India 147-3 (Raina 13, Yuvraj 0)

Kohli departs! Just after scoring his seventh fifty in eight innings on this tour, Virat Kohli had to depart after an odd dismissal. Boyce struck again.

14th over: India 139-2 (Kohli 42, Raina 13)

Raina shifts gears! Within no time Suresh Raina has accelerated his innings going across the wicket confidently.

13th over: India 130-2 (Kohli 40, Raina 6)

Rohit departs! Cameron Boyce has taken the big wicket of Rohit Sharma (52). Raina joins Kohli in the middle.

12th over: India 122-1 (Rohit 51, Kohli 39)

Rohit brings up another fifty! Rohit Sharma has brought up another half-century. His scores against Australia on this tour: 171*, 124, 6, 41, 99, 31, 60 and 50* today.

11th over: India 112-1 (Rohit 45, Kohli 35)

Rohit, Kohli show goes on! Australia are finding it difficult to break the Rohit-Kohli partnership, which is now proving to be a match-winning one.

10th over: India 102-1 (Rohit 37, Kohli 33)

Tait makes a comeback! Shaun Tait has made a good comeback going for just 6 runs in the over. Meanwhile, Rohit and Kohli have brought up 54 runs as India reach the 100-run mark.

9th over: India 96-1 (Rohit 35, Kohli 29)

Good Boyce! Leg-spinner Boyce has bowled has excellent over giving away just 5 runs.

8th over: India 91-1 (Rohit 32, Kohli 27)

Wicked Watson! Watson is proving to be the game changer for Australia, bowling tight lines. Rohit, though did manage to smash him for a boundary in the first ball.

7th over: India 81-1 (Rohit 26, Kohli 23)

Spin introduced! Australia have turned to leggie Boyce and he did a decent job containing the Indian batsmen. The seventh over went for just 7 runs.

6th over: India 74-1 (Rohit 24, Kohli 18)

Kohli bludgeons Tye! With the form Virat Kohli is in, nobody can stop him as the Delhi-born batsman is scoring runs at ease.

5th over: India 62-1 (Rohit 24, Kohli 6)

Good comeback from Boland! Scott Boland, who went away for runs in his first over came back strong but not until Rohit went after him.

4th over: India 49-1 (Rohit 18, Kohli 1)

Dhawan departs! Shane Watson has struck with the ball putting the breaks on the Indian run-flow picking up Dhawan (26 off 9), who was on a roll.

3rd over: India 42-0 (Dhawan 22, Rohit 16)

Dhawan destroys Tait! Dhawan has just smashed Shaun Tait all across the SCG. The Tait over went for 24 runs.

2nd over: India 18-0 (Dhawan 5, Rohit 11)

Rohit on a roll! Rohit Sharma is again off to a great start striking a terrific boundary, Dhawan too joined the party.

1st over: India 7-0 (Dhawan 0, Rohit 5)

Tight Tait! Opening the bowling for the Australians, the fastest bowler Down Under Shaun Tait was tidy in the first over.

Shane Watson’s 124* anchored the Australian innings to power his side to a massive 197-5, here in the third and final T20I on Sunday. Watson ends up with the second-highest score in T20 internationals.

Good bowling from India during the last three over going for 29 saw the run-fest decrease but Australia plundered in the seven overs before that.

Australia scored 88 runs in those seven overs.. India need 198 for a clean sweep. The chase in a few minutes…

Australia 197-5 (20 overs)

20th over: Australia 197-5 (Watson 124*, Bancroft 0)

Watson shines! Watson has anchored his side's innings finishing off with a brilliant 124* as Australia have managed to pile up 197-5.

19th over: Australia 187-4 (Watson 119, Lynn 9)

Nehra on target! Nehra refused to give away any runs, but somehow Watson managed to find the maximum.

18th over: Australia 176-4 (Watson 111, Lynn 6)

Disciplined Bumrah! Bumrah has just bowled a fine over giving away 8 runs which is good, given the context of the game.

17th over: Australia 168-4 (Watson 109)

Take a bow Shane Watson! Australian skipper for the last T20, Shane Watson has slammed his maiden T20 ton in just 60 balls. Jadeja finally managed to send Head (26) back to the pavillion.

16th over: Australia 149-3 (Watson 90, Head 26)

Watson on course for T20 ton? Watson is leaving no stone unturned and is having a go at the Indian bowlers.

15th over: Australia 140-3 (Watson 82, Head 25)

Jadeja goes for runs! Jadeja has gone for more runs and Dhoni missed a run-out to get rid of Watson.

14th over: Australia 127-3 (Watson 72, Head 22)

Ashwin back! Ashwin has been introduced back into the attack. The 14th over going for 9 runs.

13th over: Australia 118-3 (Watson 68, Head 18)

Pandya not on mark! Pandya has conceded 15 runs from this over, which included a dropped catch by Virat Kohli.

12th over: Australia 103-3 (Watson 56, Head 17)

Head on! Travis Head has started to free his arms, smashing a huge six and a boundary off Yuvraj's bowling. The 12th over going for 14 runs.

11th over: Australia 89-3 (Watson 53, Head 6)

Pandy pays! Hardik Pandya was a bit wayward and couldn't control his length giving away 9 runs from his first over. Skipper Watson brought up a fighting half-century.

#TeamIndia members pose for the camera before the final T20I at the SCG #AUSvIND

Posted by Indian Cricket Team on Sunday, January 31, 2016

10th over: Australia 80-3 (Watson 47, Head 4)

Yuvi shines! Brought into the attack, Yuvraj Singh struck in the first delivery sending the 'Big Show', Glenn Maxwell for just 3 runs.

9th over: Australia 75-2 (Watson 46, Maxwell 3)

Jadeja proving his mettle! Indian all-rounder is bowling tight lines and ensuring no runs are let out, the ninth over going for just 3 runs.

8th over: Australia 72-2 (Watson 45, Maxwell 1)

Ashwin strikes! Ashwin provided the next breakthrough for India picking up Shaun Marsh (9) after the Australian was attempting to go for the big shot.

7th over: Australia 63-1 (Watson 42, Marsh 4)

Jadeja, still the best! Ravindra Jadeja is still at his best, giving away just 6 runs in his first over.

6th over: Australia 57-1 (Watson 37, Marsh 3)

Ashwin in vain! Ravichandran Ashwin, who was introduced into the attack didn't do any good as Watson continued to toy with the Indian bowlers.

5th over: Australia 48-1 (Watson 28, Marsh 3)

Chance! There was a run out chance had Shikhar Dhawan hit the stumps. Nehra is keeping the proceedings tight, VVS Laxman says he could just make the cut in the ICC World T20.

4th over: Australia 37-1 (Watson 19, Marsh 1)

No balls: Bumrah bowls two no balls in a row, Watson relishing the free hits. Thirteen runs off the over.

3rd over: Australia 24-1 (Watson 9, Marsh 1)

Nehra strikes! Usman Khawaja departs for 14, caught behind. Shaun Marsh is the new man in.

2nd over: Australia 15-0 (Khawaja 14, Watson 1)

Khwaja rolls! The southpaw, making his debut, is off to a flier. Three boundaries in the over, Bumrah is clueless.

1st over: Australia 1-0 (Khawaja 1, Watson 0)

Nehra on target! Opening the bowling for India was veteran Ashish Nehra, who got a lot of swing and in the end gave away just one run. Good start by him.

The series already in their pocket, MS Dhoni-led Team India would aim for a clean sweep and end their tour of Australia on a winning note when both teams clash in the third and final T20I, here on Sunday. Stand-in skipper Shane Watson has won the toss and Australia have elected to bat.

Read: India might have clinched T20 series Down Under but Hazel Keech is unhappy

Team India remain unchanged while, Australia have made five changes to their line-up. Usman Khawaja in for injured Aaron Finch, Cameron Bancroft in for Matthew Wade, Travis Head for James Faulkner, Cameron Boyce for Nathan Lyon and Shaun Tait for John Hastings.

After the win in Melbourne, Dhoni played down the possibility that India might use the dead rubber in Sydney to experiment with their side ahead of a World T20, but Australia have no choice but to make changes.

Also Read: 'Australians can’t get Kohli out,' says Sunil Gavaskar

It was at the Sydney Cricket Ground that the Men in Blue scripted their turnaround on this trip, with Manish Pandey playing a match-winning hand with his maiden ODI hundred.

India lost the ODI series 1-4, but bounced back in style to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the T20 series, with comprehensive wins in Adelaide and Melbourne.

( Source : Deccan Chronicle with agency inputs )
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