All-rounder Washington Sundar’s unbeaten 49 off 23 balls and Arshdeep Singh’s three-wicket burst powered India to a five-wicket win over Australia in the third T20I at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Sunday, levelling the five-match series 1-1.
Chasing 187, India’s innings ebbed and flowed before Sundar’s explosive finish, laced with three fours and four sixes, sealed the win with nine balls to spare — handing Australia their first defeat in six T20Is at Hobart.
It was really important to win the toss. Good to break the streak. Very happy to be on the winning side. Those guys [who came in today] were practising really hard. This was a really good combination. Washy is a flexible batter. Both Bumrah and Arshdeep are a lethal combination.
Early Setbacks, But Sundar Turns It Around
India began briskly through Abhishek Sharma, who sliced Xavier Bartlett for six and carted Sean Abbott for two fours and a six. But Nathan Ellis struck twice in quick succession — Abhishek’s mistimed pull and Shubman Gill’s lbw dismissal halted India’s momentum.
Suryakumar briefly steadied the chase with a flurry of boundaries before falling to Marcus Stoinis, while Axar Patel perished to a short ball from Ellis.
With wickets falling, Sundar shifted gears — clobbering Ellis over mid-wicket for six and taking 19 runs off Abbott’s 14th over, including a tennis-style swat through extra cover and two massive sixes.
Tilak Varma’s scoop ended in the keeper’s gloves, but Jitesh Sharma’s inventive stroke play kept India on track. Sundar sealed it with a six over backward square and a scorching drive off Stoinis, before Jitesh finished with a lofted drive over extra cover.
Australia’s Middle-Order Surge Falls Short
Earlier, Tim David’s explosive 74 off 38 balls and Marcus Stoinis’ 64 off 39 powered Australia to 186/6, but skipper Mitchell Marsh admitted they were “probably 20 short”.
Probably felt we were 20 short. We've got to find a way to get more runs. I loved the intent. Tim David, after losing two wickets in the Power-play, was outstanding. Stoinis showed his experience... still a lot of positives. If everything goes to plan, Maxwell will be back.
Arshdeep (3-35) and Varun Chakaravarthy (2-33) led India’s bowling effort, while Bumrah and Arshdeep conceded just 16 runs off the final two overs through a masterclass of yorkers and low full tosses.
Arshdeep struck twice early — dismissing Travis Head and Josh Inglis — before David capitalised on a dropped catch from Sundar to rebuild the innings. He reached his fifty off just 23 balls with seven fours and three sixes.
Stoinis joined the onslaught with consecutive sixes off Shivam Dube, but the seamer got his revenge, having David caught at long-off. Stoinis’ dismissal in the final over curtailed Australia’s charge, but they still crossed the 180-mark.
Brief Scores: Australia 186/6 in 20 overs (Tim David 74, Marcus Stoinis 64; Arshdeep Singh 3-35, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-33) India 188/5 in 18.3 overs (Washington Sundar 49*, Tilak Varma 29; Nathan Ellis 3-36, Marcus Stoinis 1-22). India won by five wickets; series level 1-1.
