Matthew Wade in action during 4th T20I© AFP
Skipper Matthew Wade stated that the Baggy Greens didn’t play well particularly spinners during Australia’s 20-run defeat against India in the fourth T20I in Raipur on Friday. After the defeat, Australia lost the series by 3-1 as the Indian team produced a collective effort from the bat and ball to clinch the 4th T20I by 20 runs. Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi made Australian batters toil hard after the powerplay. Both spinners combined together to scalp four. Even in the middle overs, Australia lost wickets while struggling to find boundaries at regular intervals. Wade reflected back on their overall performance and said, “We just didn’t play spin very well, lost a few little too wickets in the middle as well. The guys came in and did a good job but unfortunately, we couldn’t do the job with the bat. Just to continue to learn from the guys who are already established in the team and to have depth in the squad is really key as the T20 World Cup is around the corner.”
Coming to the match, Rinku Singh and Jitesh Sharma’s explosive cameos helped India to post a total of 174/9.
Chasing 175 for victory, Travis Head and Josh Philippe opened for Australia. The Aussie openers played a 40-run partnership until Ravi Bishnoi got the first breakthrough and dismissed Philippe in the fourth over on his individual score of eight runs.
Axar Patel bagged an important wicket as he removed Head in the fifth over. Travis had scored 31 runs.
When the margin between the balls and runs started to increase, Australia lost wickets in quick succession just like India did in the first innings.
The Men in Blue bowlers ensured that the pressure remained on Australian batters. They saw out the game and registered a 20-run victory.
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