As wickets tumbled around him, Shreyas Iyer made sure Team India reached a formidable score of 160 as India look to finish the T20I series on a high against Australia in Bengaluru
India's middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer marked his return to the T20 internationals with a well-made half-century in the fifth and final T20I game against Australia in Bengaluru's M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday. (Match Blog | Streaming | Cricket News)
As the wickets tumbled for the Men In Blue, Shreyas held his ground as the batter fought well and hard on a stick pitch as he unleashed some impeccable shots as Team India posted a decent 160/8 in their 20 overs.
The batter made 53 runs off 37 deliveries that included five fours and two maximums. Shreyas was eventually out in the 20th over off Nathan Ellis' bowling.
Shreyas's T20I record speaks for itself. In 51 matches and 47 innings, he has amassed 1104 runs with a strike rate of 136.13. His T20 international debut came during the India vs New Zealand at Delhi on November 01, 2017.
Shreyas' T20I numbers - 51 matches, 47 innings, 11 not outs, 1104 runs in 811 balls at 30.67 with a strike rate of 136.13; 90 fours and 44 sixes.
Speaking about the game, Australian skipper Matthew Wade elected to bowl first in the fifth and final T20I game against India. With rains intervening, conditions were quite conducive to bowling especially under lights.
Speaking at the toss, Wade said, "We will have a bowl. The wicket feels a bit tacky and also there is a bit of weather around. One change for us. Ellis comes in for Green. Exciting times for selectors and youngsters, to make a mark and put pressure on some of the spots."
Team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav stated that he too would have bowled first if they would have won the toss. "We would have loved to bowl first. I told the team to not change anything, another opportunity to play in front of an amazing crowd, so just go and enjoy (is the message to the team). The way batting unit has delivered, just told them to believe and execute. Arshdeep comes in for Deepak Chahar. He (Deepak) has flown back home because of a medical emergency."
Teams:
India (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Axar Patel, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Arshdeep Singh
Australia (Playing XI): Travis Head, Josh Philippe, Ben McDermott, Aaron Hardie, Tim David, Matthew Short, Matthew Wade(w/c), Ben Dwarshuis, Nathan Ellis, Jason Behrendorff, Tanveer Sangha.
India are 3-1 up in the five-match T20I series and a win tonight could hand them a 4-1 margin victory to go with the series win against the Aussies.