Shane Watson's unbeaten 86-ball 124 was not sufficient as India clinched the third and final match of their Twenty20 International (T20I) series by seven wickets to blank Australia 3-0 at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Sunday.
Watson's maiden century powered Australia, batting first, to a handsome 197 for five. In reply, India rode on blistering batting from their top four batsmen - Shikhar Dhawan (26 in nine deliveries), Rohit Sharma (52 in 38), Virat Kohli (50 in 36) and Suresh Raina (49 not out in 38) - to overtake the target in the final over.
With India needing 17 in the final over, Yuvraj Singh hit pacer Andrew Tye for a six and then a four off the first two deliveries to pave the way for the last-ball heroics by Raina. Chasing the 198-run target, India got off to a flying start. They raced to 62 in the first five overs, thanks to a quickfire 26 off nine deliveries by Shikhar Dhawan - who, after a dismal ODI outing, was getting into the groove in T20I. The left-handed opener plundered four fours and a six.
They forged a 78-run stand for the second wicket when Rohit got out after scoring 52 off 38. The Mumbai right-hander was caught by Watson at midwicket off Cameron Boyce - but not before putting India strongly on track - at 124/2 in 12.3 overs.
Later, Kohli completed his 12th T20I 50 - third in the series - but soon lost his wicket being bowled by Boyce with India needing 51 runs in 5.1 overs. Thereafter, Raina kept India going with two back-to-back crucial fours in the 18th over, after which India were short of 22 runs in two overs.
In the penultimate over, Watson bowled brilliantly and gave away only five runs with Yuvraj struggling to hit big. The veteran southpaw, however, made amends in the final over collecting 10 runs off the first two deliveries bowled by Tye. A bye off the third ball was followed by two consecutive doubles from Raina, who then hit a boundary as against the required two runs for the win.
For Australia, leg-spinner Boyce impressed with figures of 28-2 in four overs, while Man-of-the-Match Watson gave away 30 runs for a single wicket. Earlier, Watson, making his debut as captain in T20I, milked six sixes - three off Ravindra Jadeja and two off Ashish Nehra - and 10 fours during his maiden ton as the Indian bowlers conceded 117 runs in the final 10 overs.
It was also the first time that India gave away a hundred to an opposition batsman in the shortest format. Trailing 0-2 in the series, Australia came up with the scratch opening pair of Watson and Usman Khawaja as regular batsmen David Warner, Aaron Finch and Steve Smith did not play either due to injury or because they were being rested for the forthcoming series against New Zealand.
The hosts didn't get a good start as in-form Khawaja was dismissed for 14 with the right-hander edging a Nehra delivery to wicket-keeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in the third over.
However, experienced Watson, dropped from the One-Day International (ODI) series, showed why he is still a force to reckon with as he kept punishing the Indian bowlers.
India clinch series
Even though Australia made six changes in the second T20 match, but even that was not enough from stopping a confident Indian team from claiming the match in Melbourne and take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series.
Chasing 185 to level the series, Australia made a frenetic start with Aaron Finch scoring heavily. Jasprit Bumrah and Ashish Nehra came in for some heavy damage as Finch, and sometimes Shaun Marsh, laid into the pacers. Finch smashed the left-armer for three back-to-back fours in the third over as Australia wrested control early into the innings. They were also helped by some shabby fielding. However, Shaun Marsh's wicket off the 59th ball of the innings, to R Ashwin, presented India with an opening.
