India beat Australia by six runs in the final Twenty20 International at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru to deny the visitors a consolation win on Sunday.
After being put in to bat earlier, India needed a half-century from Iyer (53) to post a defensible total, with Axar Patel (31) also contributing runs. Australia’s Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis picked up two wickets apiece.
Australia, chasing 160 in Bangalore, looked on course for victory as Ben McDermott hit a knock of 54 but the chase was derailed when the 28-year-old tried to hammer Arshdeep (2-40) for six and ended up holing out to long-off.
Once McDermott departed, Kumar (3-32) struck twice in quick succession to leave Australia reeling on 129-7 before Arshdeep bowled an excellent final over in which he gave away just three runs and picked up the wicket of visiting captain Matthew Wade.
India won the series rather comfortably 4-1.
At the post-match presentation, India skipper Suryakumar Yadav said he was happy with his team’s performance in the five-match T20I series.
“It was a good series. The way the boys showed their skills was commendable. We wanted to be fearless, we wanted to enjoy when we were in the middle. I told them, “do whatever is right and just enjoy your game,” and they did the same. So very happy with that,” Suryakumar said.
His opposite number, Matthew Wade, though, said the final series score should have read 3-2 and is already looking forward to the T20 World, which is slated to held in India later next year.
“I thought we bowled relatively well. We kept them to a total that probably should have been chased at this ground. Disappointing last five or six overs (with the bat). There’s always a temptation to get a lefty against the two spinners,” Matthew Wade said.
“Projecting forward to the World Cup, my role is going to be down there with Tim David and Marcus Stoinis. Looking forward to the World Cup. My job is try and get us home in situations like tonight. Would have been nice to get the result tonight. 3-2 would have been probably a reflection of where the series was, we played some good cricket, got outplayed at times but we learn a lot,” Matthew Wade added.
India next travel to South Africa for a multi-format series including three T20Is, three one-day internationals and two tests, while Australia head home for a three-test series against Pakistan.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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