11PM: Virat Kohli is the man of the series. Watson takes the player of the match for his century. Dhoni will be mighty happy with this win and especially seeing Yuvraj and Raina doing the job as they had not been tested yet in the series. Now the next challenge for India is the Asia Cup in Bangladesh and then the T20 World Cup in India where they will be the favourites with such batting firepower.
10.55PM: As we wait here at the SCG for the post match presentation here is a recap of that final over with India needing 18 off the last over and Yuvraj on strike.
Yuvraj has the strike and looks raw. He hasn;t hit anything from the middle yet.
Ball 1 – Yuvraj hits it for 4
Ball 2 – Yuvraj hit it for 6
Ball 3 – Raina steals a Bye to come on stike. Its 6 runs off 3 balls.
Ball 4 – Raina hits the ball for 2
Ball 5 – Raina hits the ball sweetly and thinks he has a 4 to win but its cut off and they only run 2. They could have run three. Now need 2 to win off 1 ball.
Ball 6 – The field is in and Raina hits a 4 over the infield for a memorable win.
What a finish at the @scg! #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/p0bN9DQsED
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
INDIA WIN! Suresh Raina carves it over point the boundary.
Scorecard: https://t.co/sKH2iJFMuB #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/k9IKrnxRiV
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
10.46PM: INDIA WINS! They needed 2 off the last ball and Raina hit a 4. Big win for India – they win the series 3-0.
10.27PM: Yuvraj is 1 off 3 balls. The pressure on him is massive but Raina is powering the chase – he is 28 off 15 balls. Ind need 35 off 20 balls.
10.15PM: 50 for Kolhooff 35 runs. Ind need 51 off 32 balls. wait – there is a wicket…Kohli gone stumped. Ind 147/3 off 14.4 overs. Yuvraj Singh comes in to a big cheers from the crowd.
WICKET "Boyce has been fantastic" – Heals. Sharma OUT for 52 and IND now 2/124. #AUSvIND #PinkT20 #WWOS pic.twitter.com/WF2v1KqDkh
— Wide World of Sports (@wwos) January 31, 2016
10.05PM: Cameren Boyce gets Rohit Sharma at mid on – soft dismissal. India 124/2 as Raina walks in. India 74 off 45balls. Kohli needs to hang around till the end.
FIFTY! Rohit Sharma reaches the mark from 35 balls. He's in some form! India need 84 from 52.
LIVE: https://t.co/sKH2iJFMuB #AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
10PM: Rohit gets 50 off 35 balls. India need 80 off 51 balls.
9.54PM: India 102/1 off 10 overs and need 96 off the next 10. Kohli and Rohit have slowed down in last 2 overs.With the run rate required hovering over 9 an over they need to keep the hitting going.
9.40PM: At the end of first powerplay of 6 overs India is cracking along at 74/1 at 12.33 runs an over and a RRR of less than 9.
9.25PM: Watson brings himself into the attack and strikes. Dhawan gone for 26runs off 8 balls. India 46/1 off 3.2 over as Kohli walks in to a big cheer.
9.24PM: Indians have got off to a flyer thanks in part to some very loose bowling by Tait. India 46/0 off 3.1 overs.
9.07PM:Rohit and Dhawan walk into the middle to chase down 198 runs and win the series 3-0 against Australia. This will take some doing.
8.47PM: Aus finishes at 195/5 with Watson the star for Australia making 124 off 71 balls. Big run chase for India – this will test them and may result in giving their middle-lower order a chance at batting.
8.45PM: Jadeja takes a blinder to get Lyn out but Watson has done the damage. Aus 193/4 with 2 balls to go.
8.33PM: Jadeja yorks Travis of his expensive final over. Aus 4/168 off 17 overs. Travis made 26 off 19 balls.
8.31: After a mamoth six Watson brings 100 (102 off 60 balls). Aus 3/161 off 16.2 as Watson is demolishing India. That missed catch off Kohli is proving expensive.
8.20: Thats 50 partnership off 27 balls for Watson and Travis. Australia turning it on.
8.18PM: its all happening at the SCG. Virat has dropped Watson and then almost ran him out. Pandya has given away a flurry of runs and a few wides. Aus 118/3 off 13 overs. Watson 68 off 465 balls and Travis Head 18 off 11 balls.
FIFTY! Watson blasts a cut through point to reach 50. 37 balls 7×4 1×6
LIVE: https://t.co/sKH2iJFMuB #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/IpLmS5OX1C
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
8.06PM: And thats Watson’s 50 off 37 balls as he cracks one through the off side piercing the field.
8.05PM: Australia are 79 runs after 10 overs. Watson (46 off 36 balls) is the key and he needs to carry on here.
OUT! Maxwell blasts first ball from Yuvraj straight to cover. Aus 3-75 (9.1)
LIVE: https://t.co/sKH2iJFMuB #AUSvIND
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
7.57PM: Yuvraj takes the ball leading to load cheers. AND FIRST BALL is a WICKET of MAXWELL. The Indians in the crowd go crazy. Aus 75/3. Maxwell made 3 off balls caught by Raina b Yuvraj.
Oh what a beauty! 👌 #AUSvIND #PinkT20 pic.twitter.com/4hB3x4tnha
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
7.52PM: Ashwin clean bowls Marsh 9 runs off 12 balls. Aus 69/2 after 7.4 overs. Watson batting well on 43 off 30.
7.40PM: Watson has taken Australia off to a flier smashing 28 off 22 overs. Aus 48/1 off 5 overs.
7.30PM: Nehra strikes the first blow as Khawaja (14 off 6 balls) nicks it to Dhoni. Aus 16/1 after 2.2 overs.
7.20PM: Usman Khawaja opens the innings with Shane Watson – new opening combination for Australia
Australia XI: Watson (c), Khawaja, Lynn, Maxwell, SMarsh, Head, Bancroft (wk), Tye, Boyce, Boland, Tait #AUSvIND #PinkT20
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
7.05PM: Cameron Bancroft along with Khawaja will debut for Australia and Shane Watson will captain Australia in T20 for the first time.
India XI: Dhoni (c), Kohli, Rohit, Yuvraj, S Dhawan, Raina, Jadeja, Pandya, Ashwin, Bumrah, Nehra #AUSvIND #PinkT20
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
7PM: Around 30 mins till play begin. India has fielded the same X1.
The great Mike Hussey presents @Uz_Khawaja and @cbancroft4 with their Aussie T20 caps. Congrats! #AUSvIND #PinkT20 pic.twitter.com/92HoEfxjhL
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) January 31, 2016
6 .50PM: Usman Khawaja has been included in the Australia side as Shane Watson wins the toos and decides to bat first.
India Women's clinch the T20I series 2-1 #AusvInd #WomenT20I pic.twitter.com/JkAWaxqQRs
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 31, 2016
6PM: Talking to the media, the coach of the Indian womens T20 team said – India’s victory in the series 2-1 will be a big boost to the Indian team. Another factor that needs to be mentioned, she said that this is first time the women players have contracts which has given them financial security and support for their families.
5:30PM: SAT is here at the SCG just in time to see a thrilling end to the third womens T20 International between the same countries. In this case the Indians have also taken the series 2-0. 7169 people are at this match witnessing a late collapse of the India batting who needed 137 runs to win but fell short by 15 runs. Great effort by the Indian women to take the series. Is this an early sign of what happens in the mens game? Only time will tell and we will be there to give you the top highlights throughout the evening.
31/01/2016 – Live updates by Shobhit Nanda from the SCG
Preview: South Asia Times is back at the cricket covering the final T20 international between India and Australia. India has already taken series 2-0 and will be looking to inflict a whitewash after losing to Australia 4-1 in the recently concluded ODI international series. They may also take this as a chance to experiment with their batting as the like of Yuvraj and lower middle order has not been tested. Australia on the other hand have been been reeling due to injury of their T20 captain Aaron Finch and the absence of Smith who is on a plane to NZ to prepare for the upcoming test matches. Explosive batsman Usman Khawaja has been drafted into the side in place of Finch and lets see if the Aussies decide to play him ahead of Travis Head who is the backup batsman in the squad.
