Indian bowlers produced a brilliant effort to beat Australia by 6 runs in the last and final T20I at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday, finishing the series 4-1. Arshdeep Singh bowled superbly to defend 9 runs in the final over and took India home. Chasing an average 161, Aussie batters failed to produce good partnerships in the middle overs, which cost them the match. Ben McDermott (54) gave some hope with a fine half-century while other batters failed to rise to the occasion.

Batting first, India got off to a quick start as Yashasvi Jaiswal fired two huge sixes and a four. But Jason Behrendorff bowled a good short-ball to dismiss Jaiswal for 21. In the very next over, Ben Dwarshuis got rid of the in-form Ruturaj Gaikwad (10) as Behrendorff took a fine catch on edge of the inner circle. McDermott then took an excellent low catch to send off Suryakumar Yadav (5).

However, Shreyas Iyer and Jitesh Sharma brought India back into the game with a fine 43-run partnership. Both batters played some brilliant shots to find the boundary ropes. Jitesh chipped in with 24 while Iyer walked back after scoring a crucial 53. Axar Patel played a cameo of 31 and helped India to reach a decent 160/8 in 20 overs.

In reply, Travis Head started Australia’s chase in a blistering manner, hitting three consecutive boundaries. But the momentum shifted towards Men in Blue as they got two quick wickets. First, Mukesh Kumar cleaned up Josh Philippe (4) and then Ravi Bishnoi bowled a classical delivery to bowl out Head (28). Indian bowlers kept taking wickets at regular intervals and never allowed the Aussie batters to get into the game. For India, Mukesh starred with a three-wicket haul while Bishnoi and Arshdeep bagged two each.