IND vs AUS, 5th T20I: Mukesh Kumar, Shreyas Iyer guide India to commanding 4-1 series victory vs Australia

Arshdeep Singh held his nerve in the last over of the 5th T20I to help India clinch a thriller at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday, 3 December. India clinched the series 4-1 with a 6-run win against Australia in the final T20I of the 5-match bilateral series.

It was a sensational final over from Arshdeep Singh, who had been hit for 37 runs in the first 3 overs of the match. The left-arm pacer kept his cool, gave away just 3 runs from his 6 balls, while defending 10 against Australia.

Defending just 161 runs in Bengaluru, India were put in a tough position, once again by a ballistic Travis Head (28 off 18), who once again gathered some quick runs in the powerplay. India took two wickets in the powerplay, but conceded at almost 10RPO. There was still hope for India with spinners yet to operate, but early in the game, it felt like India were slightly short of the par score.

When things got out of hand, captain Suryakumar Yadav once again handed the ball to Ravi Bishnoi in the fifth over, and once again Bishnoi delivered, this time with a wicket of Travis Head. In a sticky wicket of Bengaluru, Bishnoi and Axar Patel bowled well, picking 3 wickets between themselves, but were not able to stifle Australia like they did in Raipur.

India have found their new saviour in Rinku Singh. Rinku has been sensational throughout



the bilateral series. The left-hander proved that he was a human afterall, getting out while trying to slog Tanveer Sangha out of the park.

After Rinku's dismissal, India found two quick cameos in Jitesh Sharma (24 off 16) and Axar Patel (31 off 21), but they were not big enough to change the momentum of the game. India batter, Shreyas Iyer played a gritty knock, took the game deep and helped India put something respectable to defend. In a typical MS Dhoni manner, Iyer did what he could for the majority of the innings and then in the final over of the first innings, slammed a four and a six in the first two balls against Nathan Ellis.

Iyer, however, was dismissed in the third ball of the final over, by a searing yorker from Nathan Ellis. Perhaps, that is the next growth curve for Iyer, as the guard changes for the Indian team. The batter finished his innings just after hitting his 8th T20I century, scoring 53 off 37 balls.

This allowed India to reach 160/8 in a difficult pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, something that looked like a defendable score due to the presence of Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel. While both spinners did well, Mukesh Kumar turned out to be the star for India in the death overs, picking up 2 wickets in the 17th over of the match. With the win, India completed a series victory by 4-1 margin, under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav.