IND vs AUS, 3rd T20I: Maxwell's 104* helps Australia win & keep series alive

India vs Australia, 3rd T20I: Glenn Maxwell's 104*, Ruturaj Gaikwad's 123 and Jason Behrendorff's 1-12 are top performances. Australia beat India by 5 wickets and keep the series alive.

Maxwell's 104 helps Australia beat India (Photo: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Brief Scores: AUS 225/5 (Maxwell 104*, Head 35, Bishnoi 2/32) beat IND 222/3 (Gaikwad 123*, Suryakumar 39, Behrendorff 1/23) by five wickets. 

Player of the match: Glenn Maxwell (104* in 48 balls).

Glenn Maxwell’s 48-ball 104-run knock spoiled the party of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s maiden T20I century. Australia kept the series alive with a 2-1 margin, as India, for the second game of the series, found questions over their bowling department. 

India came into this game to seal the T20I series after their two consecutive victories over Australia, who would look to develop themselves in all three departments. Both teams met for the third of the five-match T20I series at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati. 

Talking point: India needs attention in the bowling department

India’s tactics have been poor with the ball in hand. They had only five bowling options, and their pace has been poor. Some of their execution and bowling changes didn’t help them, especially with the wet ball. 

Maxwell kept the series alive with a blistering century as India needs awareness in the bowling department: 

On winning the toss, Australia opted to bowl first on a black soil track that looked good for batting. India included Avesh Khan replacing Mukhesh Kumar, while Travis Head returned to Australia. 

India didn’t start well with 43/2 in the powerplay. Suryakumar Yadav saved themselves from early injury to push themselves to 88/3 in 11 overs. Later, Ruturaj Gaikwad’s century and an unbeaten 141 run fourth wicket stand with Tilak Verma fired them to 222/3 in their allotted 20 overs. 

Australia had an exciting start in the powerplay with 67/2. India pulled it back with wickets to keep them at 105/3 at the halfway mark. But Glenn Maxwell’s 48 balls 104* knock, in a 91-run sixth wicket stand, gave Australia a five-wicket win. 

Read More: IND vs AUS, 2nd T20I: Perfect top order performance followed by Bishnoi's 3-fer gives India 2-0 lead

Let’s look at the top three performances from the third T20I between India and Australia

Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 123 against Australia (Photo: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Gaikwad celebrates maiden T20I century with 123*

Ruturaj Gaikwad came into this game on the back of his fifty, and he stretched his purple touch in this game, too. After early life, Gaikwad punched Jason Behrendorff straight down the ground for a four before driving Tanveer Sangha through covers for the same result. 

He nailed Sangha for two back-to-back fours over cover before pulling Aaron Hardie through mid-wicket for a four to celebrate his fifty. He lofted Sangha over covers for a classic six before clubbing Hardie for three sixes in the 18th over to reach his maiden T20I century in 52 balls. He finished on 123* in 57 balls with the help of 13 fours and seven sixes, and he now has 458 T20I runs in 15 innings. 

Read More: IND vs AUS, 1st T20I: Inglis ton goes in vain: SKY's 80 takes India home

Maxwell's 104 overpower Ruturaj Gaikwad's 123 (Photo: ©BCCI/Twitter)

Maxwell cracked firecrackers with 48-ball 104*

Glenn Maxwell was playing his last game of a long India, including the recently finished ODI World Cup. He pulled Prasidh Krishna to deep backward square leg for a four before pumping him for two sixes over deep square leg. After smacking Axar Patel in the cow corner for another over boundary, Maxwell nailed Arshdeep Sigh for another six over third man to reach his 11th T20I fifty. 

He smashed Arshdeep Singh over cow corner for two consecutive sixes. Maxwell reached his fourth T20I century in 47 balls with a boundary over deep mid-wicket. He finished on 104* in 48 balls to take Australia home. 

Read More: Maxwell smashes record books; single-handedly takes Australia into the semis

Behrendorff bowled an economical spell with 1/12

Jason Behrendorff was so economical in the series' first game, and he followed it with another famous return. He found the outside edge of Yashasvi Jaiswal (6). He gave just five runs in his three powerplay overs.  

He ended with 1/12 in his four overs, and now he has 11 T20I wickets in 12 games. 

Read More: Suryakumar Yadav to lead India in 5-match T20I series against Australia

Statistical highlights from the India vs Australia game

• Gaikwad becomes the fifth India opener to score T20I century. 

• Gaikwad’s 123* is the highest individual T20I score against Australia in all T20Is. 

• 222/3 is now India’s second-highest T20I score against Australia. 

• The 141* run stand between Gaikwad and Verma is now India’s highest fourth wicket stand in T20Is. 

• Gaikwad has scored 44 T20I runs in 15 balls against Aaron Hardie at a strike rate of 293.3. 

What’s to come

Both teams will lock horns for the fourth T20I of the series on December 01 at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Sing International Stadium in Raipur. 

Top Twitter Reactions from India vs Australia, 3rd T20I, Guwahati

Read More: New selection panel makes some interesting decisions on India's T20I squad for WI tour