Match Review

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To me, the turning point of the game was the 19th over in India’s chase that completely turned the game back in Australia’s favour. With two overs remaining, India required another 32 runs to win and with the kind of momentum Pant had produced, it seemed very much possible for India to win the game. However, only 10 runs were conceded by Kane Richardson in the penultimate over of the chase, giving back Australia the edge.

Highs and Lows 

According to me, the low of this game was Virat Kohli’s consistent poor form. After a 6 off 2 against South Africa and 11 off 7 against South Africa and a 1 off 2 against Pakistan in the preceding Super Sixes games, the Indian captain once again failed against Pakistan today as he dismissed for 15 off 11, in the 12th over, when the chase was at a crucial stage. Had he stayed on and contributed India could’ve ended up on the winning side.

Rating Charts

At the end of the Powerplay, Australia were on 53/1 -at a run rate of 8.83- having lost only one wicket of Aaron Finch in the second over. Meanwhile, Warner kept on firing, making full use of the Powerplay with enough help from Steve Smith. The fifth over, bowled by Shardul Thakur, turned out to be an expensive one for India as 16 runs were squeezed out off it. The sixth over bowled by Bumrah only added 7 runs into Australia’s account.

On the other hand, at the end of the Powerplay, India were looking fine on 55/0 at a run rate of 9.16 and an asking rate of 10.42. India didn’t lose a wicket through the Powerplay and were guided by a superb start of innings by Rohit Sharma and a little contribution from his partner KL Rahul as well. At the end of the first six overs of India’s chase, as they still required 146 runs off 14 overs, Rohit was on 45* off 30 and Rahul on 11* off 6.

The Australian team were at a promising position end of the first six overs, at 53 for the loss of one wicket, and that momentum was carried on into the middle overs despite Warner’s dismissal in the 8th over and Smith’s departure in the following one. Following that, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Marsh took charge of taking Australia’s run rate to a much higher level. At the end of 15th overs, Australia were on 140/3, as 87 runs were added in the middle overs while only losing a couple of wickets.

On the other hand, India were strong until Rohit’s departure in the 8th over at a point when India were on 74/2. After that India’s run rate took a considerable hit in the middle overs. Following Sharma’s wicket, India lost Kohli and Rahul in the 12th and 14th overs. Due to these regular wickets, India lost the kind of touch that they would’ve desired but then it also marked the start of Pant’s innings that added hope to India’s cause. At the end of the 15th over, India were on 123/3, having added 68 runs while losing three wickets since the Powerplay.

At the end of the 15th over, India were still not able to instil some calm to the Mitchell Marsh storm that had the partnership of Glenn Maxwell. At that point, Australia were on 140/3, but in the final five overs, they were able to add another 60 runs while just losing one wicket, of Maxwell in the 18th over. Meanwhile, the bowling attack led by Bumrah were not able to contain the unbeaten partnership of 27 runs off 17 balls between Marsh and Carey. All in all, it was a poor death bowling performance by India.

On the other hand, Indian batsmen had Australia’s pace attack at bay across the 16th, 17th, 18th overs wherein they squeezed out 19, 11, and 16 runs, respectively. However, the 19th over by Kane Richardson turned out to be a match-winning one for Australia as it only conceded 10 runs under a pressure situation. Following that Pat Cummins led Australia to victory by bagging two wickets, causing another runout, while only conceding 7 runs in the final over.

This encounter between India and Australia had all the elements that make a T20 game super exciting. Despite a high scoring competition, the balance between bat and ball was fairly there. The game, despite favouring the Aussies, had phases of close competitions between the two teams and it was anything but a one-sided affair.