India look to test their bench, Australia eye a win in the 5th T20I
Having already sealed the five match T20I series against Australia, India have a good chance to test the remaining two players, namely Washington Sundar and Shivam Dube, of their 17-member squad who have been warming the bench for the first four matches on Sunday when the two teams will meet at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru for the fifth and final T20I.
In the fourth T20I, India made four changes and it is expected that they are likely to make atleast two in the last match. Australia, on the other hand, would want to close the series with a win and head back home happy. They have fought hard in this series under the able leadership of their captain Matthew Wade.
Squads
India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ishan Kishan, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Washington Sundar, Axar Patel, Shivam Dubey, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar.
Australia: Matthew Wade (captain), Aaron Hardie, Jason Behrendorff, Sean Abbott, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Tanveer Sangha, Matt Short, Steve Smith, Marcus Stoinis, Kane Richardson, Adam Zampa
What happened in the 4th T20I?
India posted a challenging score of 174/9 in 20 overs at Raipur, thanks to Rinku Singh’s 29-ball 46 and Jitesh Sharma’s 19-ball 35 after the openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (37 runs off 28 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 runs off 28 balls) gave a solid start. Ben Dwarshuis playing just his second T20I was the pick of the bowlers for Australia as he claimed 40/3 in four overs. Jason Behrendorff and Tanveer Sangha played the perfect supporting role as they chipped in with two wickets apiece. In reply, Australia despite a quick start courtesy Travis Head (31 runs off 16 balls), failed to capitalise as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. India spun their way to win as Axar Patel grabbed 16/3 in four overs and Ravi Bishnoi striking with 17/1 in his four. Captain Matthew Wade fought hard for his unbeaten 36 off 23 but could not see his side home as they fell shy of 20 runs in the end.
Players to watch out for
Rinku Singh: This India’s pocket sized dynamo has played some aggressive brand of cricket in this T20I series. In the fourth match, his 29-ball 46 shifted the momentum in India’s favour. He is a clean striker of the cricket ball and has the ability to take on any bowler.
Ravi Bishnoi: India’s leg spinner is the leading wicket-taker in this series with seven wickets in four matches. He has bowled well in different phases of the innings using his variations to utmost perfection.
Travis Head: The left-handed opening batter of Australia is known to give brisk starts to his team. The kind of shots he plays inside the powerplay can demoralise any opposition. In this series, he has scored 66 runs in two matches at a strike rate of close to 200.
Tanveer Sangha: Australia’s leg spinner has been a wily customer. He hits the right lines and lengths consistently making it difficult for batters to score freely. He has four wickets in as many matches. It would be interesting to see how he bowls at Chinnaswamy which is considered a nightmare for the bowlers.
Pitch
M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru will host India and Australia for the fifth T20I. It will be the eighth T20I to be played on this ground. Of the seven matches, the teams batting second won five. It is one of the smallest grounds in India. Therefore, the matches here are often high scoring ones. Expect the surface to assist the batters. However, there could be some help for the fast bowlers due to the cloudy conditions.
Weather
The weather is expected to be partly cloudy. The temperature will be around 21 Degrees Celsius in the evening. There is a 2% chance of rain. Cloud cover will be 100%. The winds will blow from the north-east.
Match details
Date: December 3, 2023
Time: 7:00 PM
Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
Streaming: Sports18, Colors Cineplex, and JioCinema app