India fought a losing battle in Sydney to eventually go down by 12 runs, a stumbling block that jinxed their winning streak of a dozen T20Is. The last time they tasted defeat was against West Indies in Trivandrum in December 2019. Moreover, this blip comes after India's victorious run had extended to 11 matches on foreign soil since yielding to New Zealand in Hamilton in February 2019. The consolatory triumph warranted Australia a pat on the back in what had otherwise been a series that pegged level on the scales of competition. The sleek, silver trophy will ennoble the Indian cabinets, of course, but the hosts too bow out of the slam-bang squeeze with a few blessings to count upon.
Explosive Wade brings the house down
Accidental skipper Matthew Wade stepped into David Warner's shoes with gusto and relished the license and liberty granted to his natural instincts at the top of the order. He made merry with a couple of belligerent half-centuries, with the latter worth 83 central to Australia's salvation of pride. While David Warner's deputy-in-charge fired on all cylinders, D'Arcy Short couldn't quite measure up the expectations with a grand total of fifty in three ties. And those who aren't aware that Glenn Maxwell reverse-swept a 100m monster ought to be hibernating under an igloo. In Cricket Australia's video post of that hair-raising sorcery, keyboard warriors couldn't have enough of the 'Virender Sehwag has left the chat' jibe.
Moises Henriques stepped into Marcus Stoinis' spikes in both departments besides fielding like a cheetah on the prowl. Australia plough the same furrow as their arch-rivals in terms of a wafer-thin middle-order with neither of the contenders stealing the show. The merry-go-round will witness Alex Carey, Wade, Henriques, Marnus Labuschagne, Cameron Green and Short tussle for the slots as the countdown begins for the T20 World Cup next year, even though the stand-in-captain sits pretty at the moment with a few crisp knocks in his kitty. Just a fun fact: Wade is the only Australian wicketkeeper to club a half-century in the T20I format, and he's got three for that matter.
The aforementioned arrangement is considering Warner and Aaron Finch will be reunited at the helm, with Steven Smith and Glenn Maxwell floating around with Stoinis. Australia potentially have a five-match series against New Zealand and the BBL to strike an optimal balance for the marquee championship in October 2021.
The method to the leggies' magic
Pitches across the Tasman are tailor-made to suit the swashbuckling style of batsmanship and hence, Australia's second-string pace pack operated with zilch penetration. But the tennis-ball bounce augured well for tweakers of the ilk of Adam Zampa and Mitchell Swepson who impart a lot of revs on the cherry. For instance, the former's zooter which spelt Manish Pandey's doom in Manuka Oval, a top-edged slash bunted down short-third man's throat. Zampa, in particular, was gallantly brave in his lengths and reaped due rewards in return. He dangled the carrot in front of Hardik Pandya when he was marauding like a man possessed and bagged his prized scalp to avert a seemingly impending whitewash. Daniel Sams and Andrew Tye came a cropper while defending 72 off the last six with the series on the line. Tackling a near-similar scenario, their spin-twins Swepson and Zampa entwined to arrest 4 for 44 in seven overs to spare Australia a few blushes.
“It was a great series, and we just happened to be on the wrong end of the first two. It’s the first time we’ve had two leg-spinners in the side, and they were bold with the short boundaries here, so credit to both of them. It shows a lot of courage, backed their skills really well,” Finch summarized the duo's diligence in the post-match presentation at the SCG.
The T20 rainbow flickered for a while and disappeared into oblivion within the blink of an eye. Discoveries transpired in the bowling depots but the middle-order quandaries are taking longer to resolve than a broadband glitch in a remote town. Zoom out a little further into the bigger picture, and you will notice that it's scores level, 3-3 apiece in the two white-ball legs. A glaring testimonial of how this journey has unfolded. Delicately balanced and perfectly poised. Hanging loose between a myriad of pros and cons, hits and misses, and of course, a concussion and the subsequent chaos.
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