Raipur: India took an inaccessible 3-1 lead in the five-match series as they trounced Australia in the fourth T20 on Friday at Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium here thanks to a clinical bowling effort.
Australia were chasing a target of 175 but struggled to steer the run rate after the fall of the first wicket. Openers Travis Head and Josh Phillipe got off to a flier racking up 40 runs from 19 deliveries. However, Phillipe was dismissed on eight runs and wickets kept tumbling from one end while Travis Head kept fighting during his knock of 31 runs. Skipper Matthew Wade tried to guide the team to a victory with his knock of unbeaten 36 runs but the Indian bowling unit kept the opposition 20 runs short of the target.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel starred with the ball taking three wickets while pacer Deepak Chahar ensured a couple of dismissals.
Earlier while facing the Indian team in the fourth T20I of the series against Australia, the visitors opted to bowl first. India's opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Yashasvi Jaiswal added 50 runs for the first wicket. However, after the departure of Yashasvi Jaiswal, the team lost three wickets and India was reduced to 63/3.
However, Ruturaj (32) and Rinku joined forces after that to stitch a 48-run partnership for the fourth wicket. After Ruturaj, wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma walked into bat and added 56 runs for the fifth wicket along with Rinku. The innings were heading towards a competitive total but the dismissal of Jitesh paved the way for a poor climax to the innings.
Rinku missed his half-century by four runs and the Indian team lost five wickets in the last eight balls and added just seven runs. India posted 174/9 as a result with Ben Dwarshuis being the top wicket-taker with three scalps. Jason Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha picked two wickets each to play a role in restricting the opposition.
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