India were on the receiving end of another Glenn Maxwell heist as the Australia all-rounder blitzed a 47-ball century to help Matthew Wade’s side chase down 223 off the final ball of their run chase in Guwahati.
It was an eventful game with India opener Ruturaj Gaikwad going through the gears earlier in the piece, accelerating from 21 off 21 to a final score of 123 not out off 57 deliveries. India took 30 runs off the final over of the innings with Maxwell bowling it as a result of an injury picked up by Kane Richardson.
India looked to be on course towards a routine victory when Ravi Bishnoi snared the dangerous Tim David for a first-ball duck to leave Australia reeling on 134-5 in the 14th over bumping up the required rate to 14.50 runs per over.
Maxwell and Wade clawed Australia back into the contest but after Prasidh Krishna conceded just six runs off the 18th over, Australia still needed 43 off the final 12 deliveries.
The left-arm spin of Axar Patel delivered the penultimate over with Wade making the most of the favourable match-up to go from six off eight to 23 off 14. Wade’s first (and only) six came off the fourth legal delivery of the over – a free hit.
The previous delivery was thrown out wide by Axar. Wade looked to drive it through the off side but missed the ball entirely before Ishan Kishan whipped off the bails and appealed for a stumping. The ball was called wide but when the stumping call was sent upstairs, TV umpire KN Ananthapadmanabhan adjudicated that Kishan’s gloves were not entirely behind the stumps as he collected the ball. The on-field decision was subsequently changed from a wide to a no-ball, turning the following delivery into a free hit that was duly deposited into the stands by Wade for a straight six.
Five runs off the over’s final two deliveries (a tally that included four byes against Kishan’s name) left Australia requiring 21 off the last over which was to be delivered by Krishna. Wade hit the first ball over for four before getting the in-form Maxwell back on strike needing 16 off the final four deliveries. Maxwell then struck a six and three consecutive fours to register his fourth T20I hundred and take Australia over the line to halve India’s series lead with two games to play.
