Australia lost the plot in the end to lose the T20I series against India with one match to go. Matthew Wade & Co failed to defend 194 runs against a confident Indian batting line-up at the Sydney Cricket Ground on a Sunday night.

Chasing 194, India need a solid start at the top and the openers ensured they were par with Australia’s powerplay score. Soon as Rahul got out, Australia strangled India with spin and never let them off the hook. Needing 37 off the last 3 overs, Wade took a gamble and went with Adam Zampa which changed the game.

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Shreyas Iyer, who was struggling until then, tonked a six and a four in that over. Hardik Pandya then took over the finishing duties and proved why he’s rated so highly in this format of the game to seal off the tie with two balls to spare.

Batting first, Australia got off to a blistering start thanks to stand-in skipper Matthew Wade and D’Arcy Short. The southpaw smashed 58 off just 32 balls as India’s seamers struggled to contain in the powerplay. Not just the powerplay actually, even on the whole, barring Natarajan, none of India’s bowlers had a particularly good day.

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We didn’t execute plans in the end – Matthew Wade

After Wade’s explosive start, Steve Smith anchored the innings while Marcus Stoinis and Moises Henriques played cameos that were enough to propel Australia to 194 runs. The hosts accumulated 62 in the final five to impose a mammoth total which in the end was not enough to seal the encounter.

Speaking at the end of the game, Matthew Wade admitted that it was Hardik Pandya’s carnage that took the game from them.

“It was good fun. Lot more fun till Hardik came out. May be a little bit short with the bat. Unfortunately we didn’t execute well towards the end with the ball. When you get a start like that you want to push but I was disappointed with the way I got out and the timing of my wicket as well. Zampa has been outstanding for the last few years. We just couldn’t execute it well in the end,” Matthew Wade said.