Twitter erupts as Virat Kohli and Krunal Pandya help India level the T20I series against Australia
After trailing the series 1-0 at the end of two rain-affected games, India had to win the last match of the series at Sydney. Virat Kohli and his men lived up to the task and have ensured that their record of being unbeaten in the final T20I of a three-match bilateral series remains intact.
Australia chose to bat first after winning the toss and got off to a good start. Their openers - Aaron Finch and D'Arcy Short - added 68 runs for the first wicket. Kuldeep Yadav provided the first breakthrough for India as he sent Finch to the pavilion.
During the middle overs, Man of the Match Krunal Pandya dominated the Aussie batting line-up. He picked four crucial wickets and helped India assert their dominance. During the last few overs, it was the lower order onslaught from Marcus Stoinis and Nathan Coulter Nile that took Australia to 164 in 20 overs.
Chasing down the target set by the home team, Indian openers - Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan - ensured that India were always in the driver's seat. Being Dhawan was dismissed by Mitchell Starc, the pair added 67 runs off just 33 balls for the first wicket.
India also lost the services of Rohit Sharma for the same score but the presence of Virat Kohli in the middle that India were in complete control of the match. Kohli timed his innings to perfection and even the wickets of KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant off consecutive balls did not affect the Indian captain.
After Pant's dismissal, Dinesh Karthik with his newly found calmness joined Virat. The two ensured that the target was within India's reach by scoring boundaries on a regular basis. In the process of chasing down the target, Kohli also scored his 19th T20I half-century.
The experienced batting pair ensured that India won the match by 6 wickets. While Krunal Pandya was adjudged the Man of the Match for his four-fer, Shikhar Dhawan won the Man of the series award.
Here's how Twitter reacted as India levelled the series 1-1: