India vs Australia, 3rd T20I: Kohli's 19th T20I fifty powers India to series draw

Virat Kohli fired the opening salvo on the Australia tour with a match-winning 61, helping India win the third T20 International by six wickets

Virat Kohli’s 19^th fifty supported by Karthik’s unbeaten 22-run knock saved India’s pride as they successfully won the 3^rd and the final T20I against Australia by 6 wickets at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday. Though the 3-match series ended in a 1-1 draw, India managed to maintain their unbeaten streak.

India went off to a terrific start while chasing a 165-run target. The Indian opening duo added 67 runs for the first wicket before Shikhar Dhawan lost his wicket to Mitchell Starc right before the completion of the bowling powerplay. He ended up scoring 41 off 22 balls including 2 sixes and 6 fours.

In the very next over, HITMAN Rohit Sharma fell prey to Adam Zampa after scoring a 16-ball 23 including 2 sixes and a four.

The Indian visitors were reduced to 67/2 while the responsibility fell on the shoulders of Virat Kohli and KL Rahul. The duo showcased some terrific batting performance and added 41 runs for the fourth wicket before the Aussies found another success in the 13^th over. Rahul, in an attempt to hit a biggie, was caught by Glenn Maxwell which brought his 14-run innings to an end.

In the very next ball, Andrew Tye removed wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on a golden duck while India suddenly got pressurised as they were reduced to 108 for 4.

After this shocker, Dinesh Karthik joined Kohli at the crease and the duo stirred the Indian innings to superb target chase.

With 2 sixes and 4 fours, Kohli scored an unbeaten 61, bringing up his 19^th T20I half-century to end this year’s schedule in the shortest format. On the other hand, Karthik played a supportive innings of 22 runs off 18 balls, smashing 1 six and a four.

Earlier today, Krunal Pandya took a career-best four-wicket haul, helping India restrict Australia to 164 for six. His orthodox left-arm spin came in handy during the middle overs after the hosts had sped to 68-0 in the ninth over. With figures of four for 36, he was a tad expensive again but got India the timely breakthroughs.

Australia, who opted to bat, made one change to their line-up with Mitchell Starc coming in for Jason Behrendorff. India picked an unchanged eleven.

Aaron Finch (28) and D'Arcy Short (33) then provided a cautious start to the innings, albeit they picked up momentum quickly as the Indian pacers struggled in conditions vastly different from Brisbane and Melbourne.

Their partnership put pressure on the Indian fielding but Kuldeep Yadav (1-19) then provided the much-awaited breakthrough as Finch was out caught sweeping at the short fine leg. It opened the doors to the Australian middle order. Glenn Maxwell (13) survived an lbw shout via DRS off Yadav, but Short and Ben McDermott (0) were dismissed lbw off successive balls in the tenth over as Pandya pegged Australia back.

The quick wickets disturbed Australia's momentum and they never really recovered, losing wickets at regular intervals in the second half of their innings. They had held back Chris Lynn (13) but he couldn't provide the requisite impetus, run-out in the 18th over.