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Australia vs India 2018-19, 3rd T20I: 3 Takeaways from the match

India won the third T20I to level the series at 1-1
India won the third T20I to level the series at 1-1

India beat Australia by 6 wickets in the 3rd T20 international at the SCG yesterday to level the series 1-1. Australia had won the first T20I and the second one got washed away by rain. Australia batted first and scored 164 in the allotted 20 overs. Short top scored with 33 and captain Aaron Finch chipped in with 28. Wicketkeeper Carey scored 27 and for India, left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya took 4/36.

In reply, India reached the target with 2 balls to spare. Virat Kohli top scored with 61 and Shikhar Dhawan contributed 41 runs. Mitchell Starc took 1/26 and Adam Zampa took 1/22 for Australia.

We would now look at the 3 takeaways from the match:

#1 Pacers bowled too short and spinners looked the better bowling option

Krunal Pandya
Krunal Pandya

Most of the fast bowlers of either side bowled too short and paid the price by leaking runs. Jasprit Bumrah and Khalil Ahmed were put to the sword by the Australian batsmen as they went for too many runs in the initial overs. Moreover, they could not bowl with an upright seam most of the times and caused little trouble to the batsmen.

The same story was repeated when the Indians batted as the Australian pacers except Starc bowled too short and conceded boundaries. The ball comes nicely onto the bat on Australian wickets and therefore if a bowler is not fast enough, he can be punished by the batsman off his back foot.

Starc bowled some nice in-swingers and yorkers and also got Dhawan trapped in front of the wicket. Marcus Stoinis, however, let the momentum slip from Australia’s hands by trying to bowl too many off-cutters with the new ball and conceding 22 runs in his first over.

The spinners, on the other hand, can be difficult to put away on big Australian grounds. A lot of Australian batsmen perished trying to play big shots against Krunal Pandya. Glenn Maxwell too, had KL Rahul caught in the long off as the latter tried to play a big shot. The spinners are likely to be crucial wicket-taking options in limited overs cricket on Australian grounds with big boundaries. They can also play a decisive role in the upcoming ODI series. 

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