Aussies go down in T20 series as India clinches slice of cricket history

India has exacted revenge for defeat against Australia in the ODI Cricket World Cup final after a series-clinching victory in the fourth T20 international at Raipur. Despite losing five wickets for seven runs from their last nine balls to stumble to 9-174, the Indians wrapped up a 20-run win to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

Spinners Axar Patel (3-16) and Ravi Bishnoi (1-17) combined superbly to halt the chase from the Aussies, who had come out of the blocks fast. World Cup hero Travis Head - the only member of the title-winning Aussie side still left in India - continued his impressive form with the bat to help the visitors race out to 0-40 from three overs.

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However, the introduction of India's spinners changed the tide of the contest, with Bishnoi kicking off a stunning 3-12 burst when he bowled Josh Philippe for eight. Patel then removed dangerman Head for 31 after the opener top-edged a slog sweep to Mukesh Kumar. The Aussie top order was left reeling when Patel grabbed the wicket of Aaron Hardie for eight a short time later.

Aussie skipper Matthew Wade (36no) swung hard late on but the home side's spinners bogged the visitors down and took key wickets to help guide their side to a historic win. By restricting Australia to 7-154 to wrap up the series 3-1, the Indians set a new record for most wins in men's T20i matches - overtaking Pakistan with their 136th victory.

Rinku Singh (46) top-scored for an inexperienced India side, which like Australia, rested pretty much all of their players from the ODI World Cup. The home side looked on track for a total closer to 200 before a calamitous last nine balls that left Australia with a sniff of victory that would have set up a series decider in game five.

Jitesh Sharma (35) combined superbly with Singh to add 56 quick runs for the fifth wicket, with Ruturaj Gaikwad also adding a valuable 32 runs before being removed by wrist-spinner Tanveer Sangha (2-30). Gaikwad's knock saw him become the fastest Indian man to register 4000 runs in T20 internationals, with fans hailing the feat as well as the nation's record-breaking 136th T20i victory.

Matthew Wade's unbeaten knock in vain for Aussies

When Ben McDermott (19) became Patel's third victim and Tim David (19) and Matt Short (22) both holed out for Australia, it left Wade as the Aussies' last real hope of salvaging victory. Fresh from his supporting act in the Glenn Maxwell century show at Guwahati two nights earlier, Wade ultimately had too much to do by himself as the visitors slumped to a third loss from four games.

"We just didn't play the spin very well through the middle," Wade said. "They got hold of us in the fourth and fifth over and they didn't really let go. Some areas to tidy up, especially against the spin."

Australia's new-look side saw offspinner Chris Green make his international debut, while Philippe, McDermott and Ben Dwarshuis were also given a chance, with Maxwell and fellow World Cup winners Marcus Stoinis and Josh Inglis having returned home.

Dwarshuis (3-40) and his fellow left-arm seamer Jason Behrendorff (2-32) produced a cluster of late wickets to cap Australia's best bowling performance of the series. India opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (37) was the early aggressor before his downfall sparked a 3-13 top-order tremble.

Shreyas Iyer (8) and captain Suryakumar Yadav (1) both went cheaply with the latter presenting Dwarshuis with his maiden T20I wicket. Gaikwad (32) was regularly starved of the strike before falling victim to Sangha. When Sharma departed for 35 it sparked a shocking late collapse from India that threatened to undo their good work.

Sharma was dismissed after lofting Dwarshuis to Head on the boundary in the 19th over, which set in motion a five-wicket collapse in 11 deliveries. It included a fine over off bowling from Behrendorff at the death, with the quick going for just six runs as three wickets tumbled. The fifth and final match of the series will be held at Bengaluru on Monday morning (AEDT).

with agencies

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