5 Talking Points: Australia v India, 3rd T20I
After having won the series in the first two matches, India were looking to make history by whitewashing the Aussies at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).Australian stand-in captain Shane Watson won the toss and elected to bat first. The captain led from the front with a brilliant 124* as the host put a big score of 197/5 in 20 overs.In reply, India got off to a flying start with scoring 74 runs in the first six overs. The Indian top-order once again performed exceptionally well while Raina played a superb innings alongside Yuvraj Singh to guide India towards victory by seven wickets. With this win, India made history by whitewashing Australia in Australia in a bilateral series for the first time. This win will give the MS Dhoni’s men the confidence to do well in the upcoming World T20 in their own backyard.Here are the five major talking points from the second T20I:
#1 Watson\'s superb all-round performance
Shane Waston, who is the stand-in captain for the Australia in the absence of injured Aaron Finch, promoted himself up the order to open the innings with debutant Usman Khwaja. Waston looked solid from the beginning as he was back to his most familiar batting position in T20s. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and went on to score an unbeaten 124 of just 71 balls.
Waston dominated the Indian bowlers right through his innings hitting 10 fours and five massive sixes and giving away only one chance. Watson was on 58 when in Hardik Pandya’s second over he slashed a wide full toss to deep-cover where Indian vice-captain Virat Kohli misjudged the fight of the ball and dropped a tough chance. It was, nevertheless, a crucial moment of the match as Watson went on to add 66 more runs to Australian total.
With both David Warner and Aaron Finch not playing the match it was Watson’s chance to showcase his abilities and he did that by becoming the second highest scorer for Australia in a T20I match. He also bowled well as he gave his side the first break-through in the form of Shikhar Dhawan, and he ended the match with figures of 1/30 in his four overs. Watson’s knock will give the Australian team management a tough job to pick out the openers in the upcoming World T20 starting from March in India.