In the last match of the T20I series in the India tour of Australia 2020-2021, India looked forward to sealing the series 3-0 whereas Australia looked forward to finishing the series 2-1. With all eyes on the screen to see what this game brought in for them, it was a thriller of a game. India won the toss and chose to field first.
There was pressure all around the ground in the last game. With an early wicket of Aaron Finch, India looked good in the game. However, Wade was riding on luck as the errors on the Indian side lead to the benefit to the Australian side as he scored 80 runs in 53 balls. India on the other hand tried to rectify and make up for the misfields and missed catches by getting wickets of Steve Smith (24) and Short (7). With a costly no-ball by Yuzvendr Chahal (4-0-41-0), Glen Maxwell was also riding on some luck and scored 54 runs in 36 balls. On the brighter side, we saw some beautiful bowling spells from Washington Sundar (4-0-34-2) and T. Natrajan (4-0-33-1). India needed 187 runs in 20 overs to win.
In the second innings, we saw a very strong start from Australia as they picked up KL Rahul’s wicket in the very first over. The chances of getting this game right seemed a little shaky but the fans believed in captain Kohli and company to pull this off too. However, it seemed like Australia had done their homework well as the middle order of the batting unit looked vulnerable and crumbled to the bowling attack. With Hardik Pandya (20) and Virat Kohli (85) perishing soon, it seemed impossible to chase this down. With the run rate going higher ball by ball, it nearly felt like the game was gone. It was Shardul Thakur and Washington Sundar who gave us a little hope and tried their best to seal the game with z win or take the team closer to the target and not lose with a big margin. The key bowlers for Australia were Swepson (4-0-23-3), Tye (4-0-31-1 ) and Zampa (3-0-21-1) along with Maxwell who conceded 20 runs in 3 overs and picked up an early wicket.
Australia won the game by 12 runs. India won the series 2-1.
Match learning:
Teamwork is the key to success as a team. It is important that everyone in the team contributes their best to reach the goal. When it comes to teamwork, an individual has to think like a team which means that the aim of performance does not have to be an individual success but the success of the team. When a team has a common goal and every individual in the team is striving towards that goal, the performance in itself becomes team-oriented.
If we see the overall series, we learn one thing majorly from both the teams is that team-work, belief in yourself and your team members help you to perform better as a team. There will be times when the team seems to be losing the grip of the situation and that is where the individual in the group stands up to it and takes the responsibility to help the team do better.
An error of judgement, mistakes, miscalculations is all a part of life. We may at times realise it sooner or may realise it later on. It is important that when we are working in a group setting, we understand that these things might happen at some stage. It is important to communicate and encourage them to perform better as a teammate instead of blaming them about it. Some people might make a mistake under pressure. Being aware of the possibility, helps you to be supportive and push them towards handling the pressure efficiently.
This game also taught us about how small mistakes can cost us at times. There can be so many reasons that the mistake might have happened. But also taught us that it can be rectified and we can learn from it. The no-ball by Chahal might be a mistake but a good ball after that was a rectification and we can in our daily lives learn that its okay to make a mistake but it is important to accept and rectify it when given the chance to do so.
With that being said, we all should celebrate our series win in Australian grounds. Hope you all are looking forward to the Test series coming up. Stay tuned.
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Signing off for the series,
Urvi Shah
Author, Beyond the Matches