Matthew Wade laments Australia’s poor batting against spin in 4th T20I vs India
Australia will be playing for pride in the 5th T20I.
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Dec 2, 2023 11:53 am
India have sealed the 5-match series 3-1 with a game still to be played
India, led by Suryakumar Yadav, clinched a commanding 3-1 lead in the five-match T20I series against Australia with a convincing victory in the fourth T20I held in Raipur yesterday. India’s comprehensive win has rendered the final T20I in Bengaluru a mere formality.
Australia won the toss and elected to bowl first on a hard wicket with a decent grass cover. India made a promising start, with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad putting up a 50-run partnership. However, Australia clawed their way back into the match by claiming three quick wickets. Rinku Singh‘s fiery 46 off 29 balls and Jitesh Sharma’s explosive 35 off 19 balls propelled India to a respectable total of 174. Rinku and Jitesh unleashed some stunning shots, including five sixes that sent the crowd into a frenzy. For Australia, Ben Dwarshius took three wickets, while Jason Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha bagged two each.
In response, the Aussies got off to a good start themselves but regular fall of wickets pegged them back in the chase, eventually resulting in a score of 154, 20 short of what India had compiled. Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi did the bulk of the damage as they barely conceded any runs. Patel returned figures of 3-16 while Bishnoi picked up 1 wicket while conceding 16 runs.
Australia Captain admits Aussies did not play spin well
Post the game, Australia captain Matthew Wade admitted that his team did not play spin well which was a huge reason behind their loss. “We just didn’t play spin very well, lost a few little too wickets in the middle as well. The guys came in and did a good job but unfortunately, we couldn’t do the job with the bat. Just to continue to learn from the guys who are already established in the team and to have depth in the squad is really key as the T20 World Cup is around the corner.”
The final game of the series will get underway at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in the Garden City, Bengaluru on Sunday, December 3. Inida will then fly to South-Africa for a full-fledged tour while Australia will take on Pakistan in a 3-match Test series in their own backyard.
