Carrara (Gold Coast), Nov 6: Nathan Ellis and Adam Zampa claimed three wickets apiece as Australia produced a disciplined bowling performance to restrict India to 167/8 in the fourth T20I at the Carrara Oval on Thursday.

After being put in to bat, India had a promising 49-run opening stand, with Abhishek Sharma and Shubman Gill showing intent and fluency. But India’s momentum stalled as the top four failed to convert their starts into substantial scores. The middle order struggled to build partnerships, as they went from 121/2 to 136/6, allowing Australia to claw back into the contest.

Pacer Ellis, operating with his trademark slower deliveries, struck at regular intervals to dent India’s progress, while leg-spinner Zampa applied pressure through the middle overs with his variations, as Australia gave away only 46 runs in the last six overs.

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India began positively, with Abhishek surviving an early chance off Ben Dwarshuis, before he and Gill hit eight boundaries between themselves. Zampa broke the opening stand by having Abhishek hole out to long-on. India made a surprise move by promoting Shivam Dube to number three, a decision that raised eyebrows.

After Dube hit a six and four, Ellis deceived him with a slower ball, which he chopped onto his stumps. Suryakumar Yadav injected momentum with a flurry of boundaries, including two sixes off Zampa. Gill looked composed but couldn’t break free from the slowdown post power-play against the older ball and was castled by a sharp back of the hand delivery from Ellis.

Bartlett then removed Suryakumar with a well-directed delivery that induced a top-edge and was caught by square leg, while Tilak Varma fell in a bid to reverse sweep off Zampa. Jitesh Sharma was trapped lbw by Zampa, who successfully overturned the on-field decision via DRS, while Ellis and Marcus Stoinis took out Washington Sundar and Arshdeep Singh to ensure India finished three runs short of 170.

Brief Scores: India 167/8 (Shubman Gill 46, Abhishek Sharma 28; Nathan Ellis 3-21, Adam Zampa 3-45) against Australia.

(IANS)

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