Ind vs Aus 4th T20I: Rinku Singh, Axar Patel Shine As India Beat Australia by 20 runs, Seal Series In Raipur

With bowlers in the driving seat, Team India defeated Australia by 20 runs to win the 4th game of the five-match T20I series in Raipur. The victory at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh stadium sealed the series for the home side. India is now leading the series 3-1 with one game to spare at Banglore on December 3, which will be only a formality for men in blue now. The T20 series against Australia was tagged as an opportunity to avenge the World Cup defeat.

Left-arm spinner Axar Patel picked up three wickets for only 16 runs, complimented by Ravi Bishnoi's economical bowling, who bagged one wicket for 17 runs. The pacers also played their part brilliantly by mounting pressure on the Australian batsmen at the right time. With one match left, India lead the series 3-1.

At the start, Australia won the toss and invited India to bat first. Indian openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Rituraj Gaikwad gave a flying start. Jaiswal and Gaikwad scored quick 37 and 32 runs respectively. But both the batsmen returned to the pavilion soon after the power play.

Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer got out for single-digit scores, but Rinku Singh and debutant Jitesh Sharma held the innings together powering India to post a respectable total of 174 for nine.

Both the batsmen struck the ball powerfully scoring quick 46 runs off 29 balls and 35 runs off 19 balls.

In reply, Australian opener Travis Head started the inning in a blitzkrieg manner. Hero for Australia in the World Cup finals scored 31 runs off 16 balls including 5 fours and 1 six. However, Indian bowlers managed to send both openers back to the pavilion inside the Powerplay.

Ben McDermott, Tim David, and Matthew Short tried hard to pull the game for their side by playing aggressively, but Axar Patel wreaked havoc batting order play with timely strikes.

Australian Captain Matthew Wade also failed this time, as Australia fell shy of the total by 20 runs.