Hobart, Nov 2: Though all-rounder Washington Sundar didn’t get to bowl, he stepped up when it mattered the most to smash an unbeaten 49 off 23 balls as India defeated Australia by five wickets in the third T20I at the Bellerive Oval on Sunday.

Chasing 187, India’s top seven contributed in patches, but it was Sundar’s late flourish, laced with three fours and four sixes, that sealed the win for India with nine balls to spare and level the five-match series 1-1. The result also marked Australia’s first defeat in six T20 Internationals at Hobart.

India began their chase with intent, as Abhishek looked in fluent touch to slice Xavier Bartlett for six, before carting Sean Abbott for two fours and a six. But the momentum shifted when Nathan Ellis struck twice in quick succession - Abhishek mistimed a pull and the top-edge was caught by the keeper, while Shubman Gill was trapped lbw.

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With both openers back in the hut, Suryakumar Yadav began stabilising the innings by hitting Ellis and Abbott for a six each, before slicing off Matthew Kuhnemann for a boundary. But Suryakumar fell in the eighth over when he chipped a slower ball from Marcus Stoinis to extra cover. Four overs later, Axar Patel fell when he was cramped for room by a bouncer from Nathan Ellis and top-edged a pull to mid-wicket.

Amidst all this, Sundar’s onslaught began by clobbering Ellis over mid-wicket for six, before pulling Matthew Kuhnemann for a boundary. He then turned the tide in India’s favour by taking 19 runs off Sean Abbott in the 14th over – a tennis-style swat for four through deep extra cover was followed by a powerful whip over square leg for six and pulling a short ball for another maximum.

Australia bounced back when Tilak Varma looked to scoop, but got it off the top edge and gave a simple catch to the keeper off Bartlett. With Jitesh Sharma scooping and driving for his boundaries, Sundar swung hard to clear backward square leg for six, before smashing a full toss from Stoinis over the bowler’s head for four. Jitesh finished off the chase in style with a lofted drive over extra cover.

Brief Scores: Australia 186/6 in 20 overs (Tim David 74, Marcus Stoinis 64; Arshdeep Singh 3-35, Varun Chakaravarthy 2-33) lost to India 188/5 in 18.3 overs (Washington Sundar 49 not out, Tilak Varma 29; Nathan Ellis 3-36, Marcus Stoinis 1-22) by five wickets.

(IANS)