Australia vs India 3rd T20I — Review and Player Ratings
Tags: Cricket, Kohli, Australia, India, Analysis

The third and non-decisive final T20 game between Australia and India saw Australia grab a consolation win as India fell short by 12 runs in Sydney. With the series already decided, Australia walked in today to salvage a game at least and not suffer a whitewash. And win they did, with the help of performances from Mathew Wade, Maxwell, and Mitchell Swepson. A sloppy fielding display from India and power-hitting from Wade and Maxwell helped Australia to put 187 runs on the board. In reply, India could only reach only as far as 174/7 with Kohli putting up a commendable 61 ball 85 knock, but failed to bring it home as he fell to Andrew Tye in the penultimate over. Let’s look at who shone best in this final T20 encounter down under.

Australia:

Australia bowled much better this game compared to the previous two games, although their fielding was just as sloppy as the Indians’. Swepson picked up 3 wickets and was adjudged the man of the match while Wade shone with the bat with a blistering 80 off 53.

Matthew Wade: (9/10). After Finch got out for a duck, Wade took the responsibility of providing a great start for the team. A good powerplay partnership with Smith gave him all the momentum to score 80 off just 53 and bat till the penultimate over.

Aaron Finch: (3/10). Failing to score even a single run with the bat, the only reason he gets a 3 is due to his good captaincy — using his bowlers properly and good field placement to bag important wickets including Kohli’s — which helped Australia avoid a whitewash.

Steve Smith: (5/10). He was great through-out this Australian summer and along with Wade, gave Australia a good start. He surprisingly failed to convert it into a big score, falling to Washington Sundar in the 10th over of the game.

Glenn Maxwell: (9/10). After a dismal batting display for KXIP in IPL, KL Rahul would not be happy with the way Maxwell is playing in this tour. A classic Maxwell style knock of 54 from 36 helped Australia post a good total. He also picked up the wicket of KL Rahul in the first over.

Moises Henriques: (4/10). Never got the chance to prove his mettle as he only came in to bat in the 19th over.

D’Arcy Short: (3/10). An uninfluential game for the Aussie as he only came to bat in the final over.

Daniel Sams: (4/10). Conceded 29 in just 2 overs but picked up 2 catches, including an impressive timely catch to dismiss Kohli.

Andrew Tye: (7/10). He had a decent game but picked up the crucial wicket of Kohli which settled the game for the Aussies.

Mitchell Swepson: (10/10). The man of the match, he came in for the final game and picked up 3 crucial wickets at an impressive economy of 5.75.

Sean Abbott: (5/10). He was the costliest Australian bowler, conceding 49, and took a consolation wicket of sorts dismissing Sundar after the match was already won.

Adam Zampa: (7/10). Zampa picked up the wicket of Man of the Series, Hardik Pandya. He only got to bowl 3 overs and conceded 21.

India:

With the series already won, the lack of drive to win was quite visible in the team, especially in the fielding department. Coming from an impressive IPL season, KL Rahul failed to make his mark in the game — with the bat and also failing to review a clear lbw, which caused quite the kerfuffle as the big screen showed ball tracking before the review countdown ended. Kohli’s one-handed knock was in vain, as India’s lower order proved time and again they could never be trusted with the bat. The absence of Jaddu made the difference in the game.

KL Rahul (1/10): It was a bad day in the office for the opener as he not only got out for a duck but also missed an easy stumping opportunity to dismiss Smith earlier in the match.

Shikhar Dhawan (6/10): Supported Kohli and scored 28 before falling to Swepson.

Virat Kohli (8/10): A classic knock from the skipper, scoring 85 off just 61, but surprisingly could not bring it home.

Sanju Samson:(3/10). India’s youngsters haven’t really proved their worth in this series as well as the ODI series, except for Natarajan, and Sanju is not any exception. He scored 10 before falling to Swepson and abandoning the skipper in the chase.

Shreyas Iyer: (1/10). It has been an unimpressive campaign from the youngster, who failed again today wrongly judging a googly from Swepson.

Hardik Pandya: (5/10). Adjudged the man of the series, Pandya started off well but failed to make any difference as he only scored 20.

Washington Sundar: (7/10). The way Washi bowls in the powerplay has been commendable, the spinner picking up the crucial wickets of Finch and Smith and had a decent economy rate of 8.50.

Shardul Thakur: (7/10). Thakur was costly as usual conceding 43 but dismissed Matthew Wade, which in a way could be argued saved some runs for the team.

Deepak Chahar: (5/10). An unimpressive day for the CSK quickie as he went for 0–34 in 4 overs.

Yuzvendra Chahal: (2/10). An unusually expensive Chahal went wicketless today and gave away 41 runs

T. Natarajan: (8/10) The breakout performance of this series, Natarajan was presented with the Man of the Series trophy by Pandya in a heartwarming gesture as the entire world recognized the brilliance of this left armer. He conceded the least runs today (33) and picked up the wicket of Maxwell, proving again he’s here to stay.