When Washington Sundar came out to bat at No. 6, ahead of Jitesh Sharma and Shivam Dube, it raised eyebrows, but the spin-bowling all-rounder justified his batting promotion by smashing an unbeaten 49 to take his team to a five-wicket win against Australia. This was a game in which a lot of things went India’s way, from winning the toss to making the right changes in the playing XI and ultimately clinching victory.
In the run chase of 187, the highest at Bellerive Oval, Hobart, none of the Indian batters scored a fifty, yet the visitors still managed to cross the line. It was a collective effort from the batters, all of whom chipped in with useful contributions. Australia kept chipping away with wickets, but India never took their foot off the pedal. Be it captain Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, or Tilak Varma, each came out with intent to score quick runs. The match was wide open when Tilak was dismissed. However, the 14th over swung the game in India’s favour. Washington smashed two sixes and a four off Sean Abbott’s third over, which went for 19 runs. During his 23-ball stay at the crease, he struck four sixes and two fours. Replacing Sanju Samson, Jitesh, who survived an early chance, stayed till the end with a handy cameo of 22.
Whenever a partnership seemed to be developing, Nathan Ellis provided the breakthrough. The right-arm pacer first bounced out Abhishek and later Axar Patel. He also pinned Shubman Gill with a yorker in the Powerplay. Ellis finished with a three-wicket haul but received little support from the other bowlers. Matthew Kuhnemann, who varied his pace beautifully, bowled well but was unfortunate not to take a wicket.
Playing his first game of the series, Arshdeep Singh, as he often does, took wickets in the Powerplay, dismissing Travis Head and Josh Inglis. Tim David walked in at number four and made his intentions clear by smashing his first ball for four, his first boundary on the off side. As his innings progressed, he peppered that region, scoring 46 of his 74 runs in front of square. Be it Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, or Axar, he spared none of the frontline bowlers. His method was simple: make room and access the off-side and straight boundaries. Almost every over, David found the rope.
India fought back in the ninth over, with Varun bagging two wickets in consecutive deliveries. However, the wickets had little impact on David, who continued his assault from one end. With the spinners leaking runs, Suryakumar had to turn to Dube, who conceded 43 runs in his three overs but picked up the all-important wicket of David. After David’s dismissal, Marcus Stoinis batted brilliantly, adding 64 quick runs with Matthew Short. Stoinis was particularly severe on Axar and Arshdeep, before eventually falling to the latter.
The sixth-wicket partnership lifted Australia from 118 for 5 to 186 for 6. Between overs 7 and 16, they smashed 100 runs. Washington, who replaced Kuldeep Yadav, did not bowl a single over. Dube and Abhishek combined to concede 56 runs in their four. With the bat, however, Washington had the last word.
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