Ind vs Aus, 3rd T20I: Wade, Maxwell power hosts to competitive 186/5
Dec 08, 2020
Sydney [Australia], December 8 : A whirlwind fifty by Glenn Maxwell (54) and a quality half-century by Matthew Wade (80) powered Australia to 186/5 in their 20 overs in the third and final T20I against India here at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) on Tuesday.
Wade scored his second fifty on the trot before Shardul Thakur caught him plumb in front of the stumps in the 19th over. But the damage was done by then as Australia dominated the whole innings and what made matters worse for the Indians was their poor fielding.
It finally took some quality bowling in the death overs to minimise the damage as Australia scored 47 runs in the last five overs. While India did start well, the sloppy show on the field undid all the good work of the bowlers.
Earlier, after electing to bowl first, India got immediate reward as Washington Sundar sent skipper Aaron Finch (0) packing in the second over. But Wade and Steve Smith soon got the Aussies moving, with the former slapping 17 off Deepak Chahar's third over including two glorious fours.
Wade started off from where he left in the second game and led the charge as Australia finished on 51/1 in the powerplay. Meanwhile, Smith continued to score at run-a-ball as he took 21 balls to score his first boundary.
The duo completed the fifty-run stand for the second wicket in the eight over. However, Washington Sundar came back into the attack and removed Smith (24) ending a 65-run partnership as Australia reached 82/2 at the halfway mark. Smith could not quite find his timing in the middle even as Wade scored his third half-century and second fifty on the trot in the 11th over. He is also the only Australia wicket-keeper to make a 50-plus score in men's T20Is.
Glenn Maxwell, who came into bat at number four, struck the notorious switch-hit shot to make his intentions clear. The right-handed batsman also got a reprieve as he top-edged an attempted slog-sweep and was caught, only for Yuzvendra Chahal to have overstepped.
Maxwell continued his crisp striking and took Australia to 139/2 at the end of the 15th over whacking two sixes in Chahal's last of the day. In the last five overs, Australia wasn't able to captilise on the start they had got and scored just 47 runs. For India, Sundar picked two while Natarajan scalped one wicket.
Brief Scores: Australia 186/5 [Mathew Wade 80, Glenn Maxwell 54; Washington Sundar 2-34 ] vs India
