Australia restrict hosts to 8-160 in final T20 in India

Justin Chadwick | December 4, 2023

Allrounder Aaron Hardie and spinner Tanveer Sangha have produced strong displays with the ball as Australia restricted India to 8-160 in the fifth and final T20 clash.

Hardie snared 1-21 from his four overs and Sangha was also economical with 1-26 in Sunday’s (Monday AEDT) match in Bengaluru.

India slumped to 4-55 after 9.1 overs, but handy knocks from Shreyas Iyer (53 off 37 balls) and Axar Patel (31 off 21) lifted the home side to a defendable total.

Australian paceman Ben Dwarshuis snared 2-5 from his first two overs, but he copped some punishment from that point on to finish with 2-30.

Jason Behrendorff (2-38) and Nathan Ellis (1-42) were expensive.

India, who hold an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series, made a solid start as they moved to 0-33.

But their momentum was halted after they lost Yashasvi Jaiswal (21 off 15 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (10) within four balls of each other.

Their dismissals sparked a collapse of 4-22 as Australia turned the screws, despite some ‘nearly’ moments in the field. 

Ben McDermott came close to pulling off a sensational right-handed leaping effort at point when Suryakumar Yadav was yet to score.

McDermott took a sharp catch close to the ground a short time later to remove Yadav for five.

Behrendorff was running at full speed on the boundary when he dropped Jitesh Sharma on 10, with the ball going over the rope for six.

Sharma went on to make 23 off 16 balls before being caught in the deep.

Iyer cracked five fours and two sixes to get India back on track, and he made it through to the final over before being bowled by Ellis.

Ellis suffered an injury scare in the final over when he twisted his ankle after falling on his follow-through. 

The 29-year-old was able to complete the over after receiving treatment.