AUS vs IND, 4th T20I: Axar Patel’s all-round brilliance leads India to 48-run win against Australia
India defended a modest total with a stifling bowling performance for a 48-run win over Australia in the fourth T20 International to grab an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-match series in Carrara on Thursday.
The architects of India’s win were Axar Patel and Shivam Dube, who took two wickets each to put Australia on the backfoot in the run chase.
AUS vs IND 4th T20I: Scorecard
Washington Sundar struck thrice towards the end as India comfortably defended 167, with Australia folding up for 119 in 18.2 overs after being 91 for three at one stage.
The final T20I will be played in Brisbane on November 8.
Openers Matthew Short (25 off 19) and Mitchell Marsh (30 off 24) got Australia off the blocks smoothly in the run chase, but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs pushed the host to a point of no return.
After Axar trapped Short in the PowerPlay, Dube removed Marsh and Tim David (14 off 9) to make a telling impact on the game. The wicket of Marsh came off Dube’s second ball, before he surprised David with a short delivery in the following over.
Arshdeep Singh, too, picked a wicket in the middle overs, and the game seemed done and dusted when Glenn Maxwell saw his exposed stumps disturbed off the last ball of Varun Chakaravarthy’s fourth over.
The stellar performance came after a middling batting effort. India never got the momentum it needed after a wicket-less PowerPlay to end with an underwhelming 167 for eight.
Abhishek Sharma (28 off 21) and Shubman Gill (46 off 39) put on 56 for the opening wicket before India lost its way.
Promoted to number three to counter Adam Zampa, Dube (22 off 18) could not make a big impact while skipper Suryakumar Yadav (20 off 10) departed after hitting a couple of sixes.
Pacer Nathan Ellis (3/21 in 4 overs) was the pick of the Australian bowlers, using his variations effectively.
Zampa leaked 45 runs in his four overs, but more importantly, he got three wickets including the dangerous Abhishek.
Abhishek dispatched the second ball of Zampa’s opening spell for a six down the ground. The southpaw tried to hit another one out of the park two balls later, but was caught at long-on. Abhishek could have been out off the game’s second ball, bowled by left-arm pacer Ben Dwarshuis, but Xavier Bartlett grassed the early opportunity.
Abhishek’s opening partner Gill, who is yet to make an impact in the series, had to work hard for his runs.
He released some pressure with a massive hit off Marcus Stoinis in the cow corner region before falling to a back-of-the-hand slower one from Ellis.
The wickets kept falling thereafter, robbing the innings of any flow. Axar (21 not out off 11) got some much-needed boundaries towards the end to push the total past 160.
India lost four wickets for 42 runs in the last five overs, but a stellar bowling performance carried it over the line.
Published on Nov 06, 2025
