Shane Watson’s century went in vain as fifties from Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli set the platform before Suresh Raina’s unbeaten 49 helped India clinch a last-over thriller over Australia in Sydney.
After winning the toss and choosing to bat, captain Shane Watson led from the front, as his unbeaten 124 helped Australia post 197/5. India's death bowlers ensured the total didn’t cross 200 and that proved to be the difference in the end.
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Credit goes to the bowlers: MS Dhoni
MS Dhoni admitted the difference in the T20I series has been the improvement in the performance of the bowlers.
"Lot of credit to the bowlers," says MS Dhoni. "In the ODI series the batsmen were doing well, we needed the extra 10% from the bowlers. That has changed with Bumrah coming in and others getting their act together.
“Yes, the batsmen have taken it up a notch, but it is the bowlers who have done their job better, which has made the difference. There might be one or two changes based on the conditions in the World T20, but this is roughly what our T20 side will look like."
Man of the match Shane Watson believes Australia still have a chance to win their maiden World T20 title. He said: "They certainly are special. They showed it to us in the one-day series as well. we put up the big score to give ourselves a big score, but couldn't get ourselves over the line.
“At this point of time I am loving every minute of playing for Australia. The privilege to captain the team was great although it was a bit hectic at time. I do enjoy my batting. I blocked the ball a bit too much early, but it was a pleasure to bat with Uzzie. Can't believe he got out.
“We have got the world-class players, there is no reason why we can't have a successful World T20. Just need to chalk out the roles..."
Man of the series, Virat Kohli admits India wanted to finish the tour 4-4 after losing the fourth ODI in Sydney.
He said: "Indeed, reads sweet. We decided before Sydney one-dayer that we want to finish the tour 4-all. Just because we played so well earlier but didn't get on the board. I was disappointed when I got out because I wanted to finish the game off. I challenge myself to finish them off when I chase.
“The way Yuvi and Raina, both of them coming back, finished it off, credit to their character. (Rohit starts dancing midway because Kohli is asked about him). I have said this many times that I am a big fan of Rohit. The time he has got, and the miles he can hit the ball...”
Reactions from the cricket fraternity after India's whitewash:
India's leading run scorer across all formats, Sachin Tendulkar tweeted:
Irfan Pathan:
A member of India’s 2007 World T20 winning campaign, RP Singh said:
Dean Jones:
Former Pakistan all-rounder Azhar Mahmood:
Rohit and Kohli earned plenty more admirers, including Kevin Pietersen:
Shane Watson, who scored an unbeaten century, earned plenty of plaudits:
Harsha Bhogle:
Former Australian all-rounder Tom Moody:
He might not be playing, but David Warner was still rooting for his side:
India’s bowlers, who were brilliant in the first two games, didn’t get the job done in the third T20I.
An interesting idea for Australia to look at.
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