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Australia endured a tough six-run defeat against India in the fifth and final T20I played at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. The Aussies, who had already lost the series, did everything right and kept the hosts on their toes throughout the contest but an umpiring error towards the end proved pivotal in deciding the fate of the contest. The incident took place in the final over of the match bowled by pacer Arshdeep Singh with Aussie skipper Matthew Wade on strike. With a big task of defending 10 runs in the final over, the pacer started with a bouncer that clearly sailed over Wade’s head.
The equation in this scenario should have technically reduced to 9 off 6 but the umpire considered it a legal delivery, which left Wade fuming. Shocked with the delivery not being given wide, Wade angrily gestured at the square leg umpire and two balls later he was caught at long-on by Shreyas Iyer for 22 (15).
The drama was still not over as the umpire was once again in focus, although this time it was at the bowling end. With nine required in the final two deliveries, Nathan Ellis smashed a ball straight back at the pacer, coming from the middle of his blade. The ball took a deflection off Arshdeep’s hands and hit the umpire, who was trying to sway away from the line of the ball. But because of the impact, Australia could only scamper through for a single, making it an impossible 8 to get off the last ball.
“It’s hard to wrap my head around at the moment after not being able to get us home,” Wade said of the loss. “I thought we bowled relatively well. We kept them to a total that probably should have been chased at this ground. It’s pretty disappointing. It would have been nice to get the result tonight. I think 3-2 would have been a reflection of where the series was at.”
Winning the toss and inviting India to bat first, the Aussies restricted the hosts for 160/8 in 20 overs. Australia in response got off to a decent start but kept losing wickets at regular intervals, which made the moderate 161 chase appear tough. Wade, however, kept them alive in the contest but the team could only muster 154/8 in their 20 overs. Wade’s form was one of the biggest positives for Australia which is why it was a tad surprising to see him bat slightly up the order. However, Australia’s T20I captain justified the decision by pointing out his satisfaction with the valuable contributions made by several players.
“There’s always a temptation [to move up the order]; it was spoken about but looking forward to the World Cup. My job is to get us home in situations like tonight. It would’ve been nice to get the result, but we learn and I thought Ben McDermott bounced back, Behrendorff, Dwarshuis, Sangha made an impact in tough conditions,” added Wade.
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