Series over, streak continues
Natarajan and Pandya combine to help India clinch series; India’s unbeaten run in T20s extends to eleven
MUMBAI: From when Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev played, starting with the 1986 tied Test in Chennai, there has been needle to India-Australia clashes. Sachin Tendulkar, Navjot Sidhu and Anil Kumble maintained that intensity in the mid-1990s and Sourav Ganguly as skipper took that to another level.
Under Virat Kohli, the Australia-India rivalry has only got more intense. On Sunday, both sides produced an outstanding Twenty20 game, the kind of contest that brings the best out of each player. India won by six wickets with two balls to spare in the end, but it was so close that it was difficult to pick a winner till the final over of the game.
The visitors needed 14 runs off the last six balls, and to the delight of the Indian fans, Hardik Pandya kept his nerves to get his team over the line. He hit two sixes off Daniel Sams to emerge the hero with an unbeaten 42 off 22 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes).
With the series win, India have extended their unbeaten run in T20s to 11 games. It avenged the one-day series defeat and set the stage for a good Test series. Australia had hardly put a foot wrong and had India under pressure almost throughout. The Indian batsmen though showed tremendous selfbelief in the chase, finding a way to break free every time they were tested.
Kohli put Australia in to bat and the hosts, powered by stand-in skipper Mathew Wade’s 58 off 32 balls, Steve Smith’s 46 off 38 balls and Glenn Maxwell’s 22 off 13, amassed 194/5 and threw India the challenge of scoring at a run-rate of 9.7. It proved to be a game of turning points. After two quiet overs, India’s run-chase came alive with KL Rahul (30 off 22 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (52 off 36) taking 15, 19 and 13 runs from the next three overs in powerplay. India touched 50 faster than Australia, in 4.4 overs. Wade bringing on Maxwell to bowl his part-time off-spin proved costly as Dhawan smashed him for a six and four and Rahul hit a four.
Andrew Tye came back with a fine sixth over, dismissing Rahul and conceding just four runs. India started falling behind as leg-spinners Mitchell Swepson and Adam Zampa gave nothing away. The next big moment in the chase came in the 15th over. An excellent 14th by Swepson— five runs and Saju Samson’s wicket—left India needing 72 from 36 balls. Kohli responded by hitting two fours and a six off Tye. Known for playing conventional shots even in T20s, an inspired Kohli for the first time played the scoop shot for six off a pacer in a daring 40 off 24 balls. With 18 runs added, an equation of 54 off 30 balls suddenly looked gettable. Under pressure, Shreyas Iyer smashed a six and cut for four off Zampa, making it 25 off 12 balls to keep India in the game. More importantly, Pandya had the strike at the start of the 19th over by Tye—it was just the match-up India wanted because of Pandya’s hitting ability against pacers. Tye kept Pandya on a leash the first three balls but he took fours off the fourth and fifth balls. It boiled down to 14 off the last over and the wiry hard-hitter nailed the chase with two clean hits off Sams.
Natarajan heroics
Having lost the first T20, Australia came out all guns blazing at the SCG. They threw everything at the bowling and looked set for a massive total like they had put up in the ODIs played in Sydney.
While the other India bowlers wilted, Natarajan refused to crack. In the final analysis, the few runs saved by the left-armer proved the difference, keeping the chase to manageable limits.
On a day none of his teammates went below 8.75 an over, Natarajan caught everyone’s attention with figures of 4-020-2. Getting an international break is great, but proving you belong there is difficult. The Tamil Nadu pacer showed mastery in his craft, good temperament and a shrewd cricketing brain. It was impressive because the Australia batsmen had a definite plan for every other Indian bowler. After the Canberra defeat, homework was evident in the way they targetted Washington Sundar, Shardul Tahkur and Yuzvendra Chahal with aggressive batting from the start. Deepak Chahar went for 12-anover, Chahal for 12.75, Thakur for 9.75 and Sundar for 8.75.
Natarajan stayed ahead of the game in every phase and knew which variation to use when. Rattled by the early assault, Kohli had to alter his game plan of keeping Natarajan for the middle-to-death overs, and brought him on in the fifth over. The left-armer provided the breakthrough while conceding just one run in the over. Known for his yorkers, he dug it short and the pull of opener D’Arcy Short was taken by Iyer at deep midwicket. The IPL exposure was evident as he has kept getting better with every outing. When Kohli gave him the 19th over, the left-arm pacer didn’t disappoint. After conceding two singles off the first two balls, he sent back Moises Henriques—an important wicket at that stage. A last ball four by Daniel Sams prevented Natarajan from making it a perfect finish.
Still, eight runs and one wicket was an effort to be proud of when the Australia batsmen were going all out. At the other side, Chahar was taken for 17 runs in the final over as Australia scored 62 for two wickets in the last five overs. That despite going for runs Kohli bowled only five bowlers again exposed a lack of bowling options.
Brief scores: Australia 194/5 (Matthew Wade 58, Steve Smith 46, T Natarajan 2/20); India 195/4 (Shikhar Dhawan 52, Virat Kohli 40, Hardik Pandya 42*).