SYDNEY: Virat Kohli fired the opening salvo on the Australia tour with a match-winning 61, helping India win the third T20 International by six wickets and draw the three-match series 1-1 here on Sunday.

Scorecard: India vs Australia, 3rd T20I

Kohli's sublime 41-ball knock and his 60-run unbeaten stand with Dinesh Karthik (22 not out off 18) gave India the much needed series-levelling win ahead of the all-important Test series beginning December 6 at Adelaide.

The captain's perfectly executed chase in 19.4 overs came after Shikhar Dhawan (41 off 22 balls) and Rohit Sharma (23 off 16 balls) provided a flying start to the innings.

Earlier, Krunal Pandya took career-best figures of 4-36 as Australia were restricted to 164/6 in 20 overs.

Australia won the opening T20I by four runs while the second game was a washout, putting additional pressure on India who came here at the back of winning six T20I series in a row.

Chasing 165, Dhawan and Sharma put on 50 runs off just 28 balls.

Both batsmen took the aerial route with aplomb and hit seven fours and four sixes between them to leave the Australian bowlers clueless. Overall, India scored 67/1 in the powerplay overs.

Mitchell Starc (1-26) had got the breakthrough in the sixth over, trapping Dhawan lbw via DRS referral. It put a momentary break on scoring as no runs were scored off the next eight balls, resulting in Sharma's dismissal, who played on off Adam Zampa (1-22).

KL Rahul (14) started off by scoring a monster six, and added 41 runs for the third wicket with Kohli. India crossed 100 in the 12th over, but the former started struggling for timing and holed out shortly afterwards.

It became a double blow as Rishabh Pant was out for a first-ball duck, gloving behind off a slower short ball from Andrew Tye (1-32).

India were in bit of a bother at that stage, but Kohli and Dinesh Karthik brought out their shots. The latter played a perfect foil to Kohli as he struck a four and a six to bring down the asking rate.

Kohli meanwhile reached his 19th T20I half-century off 34 balls and took India home with two balls to spare.

This was after Pandya's orthodox left-arm spin came in handy during the middle overs after the hosts had sped to 68/0 after winning the toss and opting to bat.

Australia made one change to their line-up, with Mitchell Starc coming in for Jason Behrendorff. India picked an unchanged eleven.

Aaron Finch (28) and D'Arcy Short (33) then provided a cautious start to the innings, albeit they picked up momentum quickly as the Indian pacers struggled in conditions vastly different from Brisbane and Melbourne.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-33) and Khaleel Ahmed (0-35) both proved expensive, while first-change Jasprit Bumrah (0-38) too didn't stem the flow of runs, as Australia raced to 49/0 at the end of powerplay overs.

The Finch-Short partnership put pressure on the Indian fielding, shoddy again, and Rohit Sharma put down a sitter off Finch (on 22) at the start of the eight over off Pandya.

Kuldeep Yadav (1-19) then provided the much-awaited breakthrough as Finch was out caught sweeping at short fine leg.

It opened the doors to the Australian middle order. Glenn Maxwell (13) survived an lbw shout via DRS off Yadav, but Short and Ben McDermott (0) were dismissed lbw off successive balls in the tenth over as Pandya pegged Australia back.

The quick wickets disturbed Australia's momentum and they never really recovered, losing wickets at regular intervals in the second half of their innings. They had held back Chris Lynn (13) but he couldn't provide the requisite impetus, run-out in the 18th over.

In between Pandya also accounted for Maxwell, caught by Sharma in the end, as also the vital wicket of Alex Carey (27) who held the Australian middle order together after the initial setbacks.

Marcus Stoinis (25 not out off 15 balls) played an attacking cameo at the end, and put on 33 runs with Nathan Coulter-Nile (13 not out) as Australia finished with a score just above average (151) at this ground.

SYDNEY: Staring at an imminent defeat after seven successive series wins on trot, India will be looking for yet another solid bowling performance against a brittle Australian top-order in third and final T20 International on Sunday.

ALSO READ: Pace spearhead Mitchell Starc summoned for final T20I

India were in with a very good chance of levelling the series in Melbourne on Friday after reducing Australia to 132 for 7 in 19 overs but rain put paid to their hopes.

Now a win at the SCG will at least let Virat Kohli's team share the bragging rights and more importantly remain in a good frame of mind before the real test begins at Adelaide on December 6.

India are unbeaten in T20I engagements since July 2017, when they last lost to West Indies in a one-off game in the Caribbean. They have won 20 out of 27 T20Is since then in different conditions and against varying opposition.

In doing so, India are unbeaten in nine consecutive T20I series since August 2017, including a drawn two-match contest against Australia at home (October 2017).

They have won seven consecutive T20I series since – the Nidahas Trophy win in the tri-series in Sri Lanka (also including Bangladesh) and beating England away 2-1 in the summer gone past, are the highlights of this unbeaten run.

Last time in Australia, back in 2016, India had won the T20I series with an unprecedented 3-0 margin.

Rain though has played spoilsport with their chance of winning a second consecutive T20I series Down Under. Perhaps the only silver lining is that they still can maintain their unbeaten record in this format with victory on Sunday.

In order to achieve this, India will like to carry on from where they left off in Melbourne. The surprisingly unchanged bowling attack put in a more disciplined performance as compared to their Brisbane outing, and both pacers and spinners were able to put the Australian batting order under constant pressure.

There were hiccups in the field of course – two dropped catches in keeping with a shoddy display in Brisbane as well. This is one area that the Indian team will be keen to improve on when the final game begins, for it could well be the difference again if the Australian batting clicks.

Pre-game in Melbourne, there was talk that the Indian team management might revert to type and bring back Yuzvendra Chahal to re-ignite his partnership with Kuldeep Yadav in a must-win game.

The stakes haven't changed going into the series decider, yet India's improved showing with the ball gives reason for picking an unchanged side.

Given the situation, skipper Virat Kohli showed surprising consistency in team selection and continued to back Krunal Pandya in the all-rounder guise.

The latter put in an improved showing of 1-26 in four overs, bowling Glenn Maxwell with a slow turner. The SCG wicket is known to be helpful to spinners and thus there is no case to leave Pandya out.

It remains to be seen if India will be tempted to play Chahal nevertheless, if conditions do turn out to be drier than in Brisbane and Melbourne.

The only option to do so is in leaving out Khaleel Ahmed then, who despite being a touch expensive in the first game has justified his selection thus far.

Dropping Ahmed won't be easy, as Kohli adopted stand-in skipper Rohit Sharma's plan (used against West Indies at home) to pair him with Bhuvneshwar Kumar first and bring in Jasprit Bumrah as first-change.

Leaving him out would mean Kumar-Bumrah sharing the new ball, and unless conditions demand it, the team management again might not be too keen to change what clearly worked in Melbourne.

Whilst the Indian team was waiting for the rain to stop and play to resume, it was also noticeable that Kohli was sitting padded up in the dugouts even as openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma warmed up.

It hinted at a possible re-promotion for the skipper to number three, in light of KL Rahul's struggles off late. It is again improbable that the latter will be left out at Sydney, but Kohli batting at number three and boosting the top-order in the series' finale could be India's best bet.

Australian pacer Billy Stanlake, who twisted his ankle during pre-match warm-up on Friday, is slated to undergo a scan on Saturday.

His availability for Sunday's game thus is under doubt but the hosts haven't yet named an alternative with Nathan Coulter-Nile stepping in to take his spot in the side in the second T20I.

Weather is set to relent on Sunday and unless conditions are drier than anticipated, Aaron Finch has no reason to change his playing eleven.

His side now stands on the cusp of a surprise series' win against India, one thought inconceivable at the start of this week given the current turmoil in Australian cricket.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (capt), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Manish Pandey, Shreyas Iyer, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Rishabh Pant, Krunal Pandya, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Khaleel Ahmed, Washington Sundar.

Australia: Aaron Finch (capt), Ashton Agar, Jason Behrendorff, Alex Carey, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Ben McDermott, Glenn Maxwell, D'Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Match starts at: 1.20 pm IST.

MELBOURNE: The second T2O International between India and Australia was called off due to intermittent rain on Friday, undoing the visitors' good work with the ball and denying them an opportunity to level the three-match series.

India were naturally disappointed at not getting a go at the target which was revised thrice due to rain. Australia had scored 132 for seven in 19 overs when the first spell of rain arrived at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

India's target was initially revised to 137 runs in 19 overs before more rain made it 90 runs from 11 overs and then 46 from five overs. Nearly 90 minutes were lost due to the fickle weather before the game was eventually called off at 10.02 pm local time.

Rain playing hide and seek was not just frustrating for the players but also for the 60,000 plus crowd gathered at the iconic venue.

With the match not producing a result, India now can only level the series in the final game in Sydney on Friday. Virat Kohli and his team had come into the T20 series after winning six bilateral contests in a row.

India put up a much improved with the ball on Friday, following the disappointment of the series opener at the Gabba on Wednesday.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2-20) and Khaleel Ahmed (2-39) shared four wickets to rock the Australian top-order and reduce them to 41-4 at one stage.

This was after India won the toss and opted to bowl. The visitors went in with an unchanged side while Australia made one change, bringing in Nathan Coulter-Nile for Billy Stanlake who picked up an ankle niggle during warm-up.

Kumar then struck with his second delivery, dismissing Aaron Finch (0) caught behind. From there onwards, India exerted themselves on the field and there was never any let up.

But there were hiccups. The swing bowler should have had at least a couple more wickets, but was twice unlucky in the third over.

First, Rishabh Pant spilled a difficult diving catch behind the wickets with D'Arcy Short (14) getting a life on 7. Two balls later, Chris Lynn (13), on nought, should have been caught at fine leg, only for Jasprit Bumrah (1-20) to spill it over the rope and for a six.

Ahmed did strike in the fourth over and pegged Australia back as Lynn was caught in the deep going for another big one. Two overs later, he bowled Short and India's missed chances didn't cost them too much.

The longer boundaries further aided India as Bumrah had Marcus Stoinis (4) caught in the deep in the seventh over to put the hosts under more pressure.

Glenn Maxwell (19) and Ben McDermott (32 not out) added 21 runs for the fifth wicket to stem the rot, but Krunal Pandya (1-26) struck to remove danger-man Maxwell. The spinner found some grip and a hint of turn as Maxwell was bowled in the 11th over.

Kuldeep Yadav (1-23) too made his presence felt, chipping in with Alex Carey's (4) dismissal, sending the prominently Indian crowd into raptures.

Australia somehow managed to cross the 100-mark in the 16th over, thanks to a 27-run partnership between Nathan Coulter-Nile (18) and McDermott.

Coulter-Nile hit two sixes and a four during his nine-ball stay. McDermott held one end together and put on 31 runs off 20 balls with Andrew Tye (12 not out), providing a little impetus to the innings before rain halted proceedings.

BRISBANE: A sloppy India failed to get an ideal start to the Australia tour, losing the rain-hit opening T20 International by four runs at the Gabba on Wednesday.

FULL SCORECARD

India first faltered in the field, letting Australia score 158 for four after rain shortened the contest to 17 overs a side. Glenn Maxwell was the star batsman for Australia, hammering 46 runs off 24 balls.

The 45-minute rain stoppage meant India were set a revised target of 174 runs in 17 overs.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan smashed a sublime 76 off 42 balls in the run chase before Dinesh Karthik came up with a pulsating 30 off 13 balls towards the end but India still finished agonisingly short on 169 for seven.

It was a morale boosting win for Australia, who have endured a dismal run of late in limited overs cricket.

The second match of the three-match series will be played in Melbourne on Friday.

Dhawan got India off to a quick start, putting on 35 off 25 balls for the opening stand with Rohit Sharma (7).

The latter was caught at long on off Jason Behrendorff (1-43) in a bid to accelerate his strike-rate. In keeping with the strategy used during the T20I series in England, KL Rahul (13) came out to bat at number three.

Dhawan and Rahul put on 46 runs for the second wicket, but it was mostly down to the left-hander's belligerence. He hit ten fours and two sixes overall, and reached his ninth T20I half-century off only 28 balls.

Rahul though was patchy at best and struggled for timing. He was stumped off Adam Zampa (2-22) in the ninth over, with the leg spinner also accounting for skipper Virat Kohli (4) who never really got going coming down at number four.

Zampa should have had a third wicket but he dropped a return chance from Dhawan (on 65). The batsman enjoyed another life at 74, when substitute Nathan Coulter-Nile put him down at square leg off Billy Stanlake (1-27).

The asking rate was climbing up and it took a toll on Dhawan, who finally holed out of Stanlake, leaving Rishabh Pant (20 off 15 balls) and Karthik with a mountain to climb.

They nearly achieved the impossible, putting on 51 off a mere 24 balls, toying around with the Australian bowling. But what is becoming increasingly frustrating with Pant, he played yet another loose and unnecessary stroke, throwing his wicket away.

It left Karthik to finish off things, but he found the going tough without enough support from the other end. With 13 needed off 6 balls, Krunal Pandya (2) and Karthik holed out on consecutive deliveries off Marcus Stoinis (2-27).

This was after Maxwell hit four sixes in a whirlwind knock before rain came, after Chris Lynn scored 37 runs off 20 balls to help Australia recover from a slow start.

India had won the toss and opted to bowl on a surprisingly green wicket. Kuldeep Yadav was picked ahead of Yuzvendra Chahal as expected, while the hosts also included a spinner in Adam Zampa and left out medium pacer Coulter-Nile.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar (0-15) and Jasprit Bumrah (1-21) got India off to a good start but Aaron Finch (27) pulled things back a bit. Khaleel Ahmed (1-42) got the initial breakthrough as D'Arcy Short (7) was caught at long on. The left-arm pacer proved expensive thereafter.

Kuldeep took a sensational catch running back to dismiss Short, and from there onwards, he had a marked influence on the game.

Later he also picked up 2-24 in his four-over spell. He dismissed Finch and then sent back Lynn as well, thus reducing Australia to 75-3 in the 11th over.

Apart from Yadav's stunning effort, India were rather poor in the field. Skipper Kohli had dropped Finch in the fourth over, a straight chance spilled at cover, and then miss fielded later on as well.

Ahmed too dropped Stoinis (33 not out off 19 balls) late in the Australian innings, while Maxwell should have been run-out.

Finch took advantage of the reprieve and put on 40 runs off 26 balls with Lynn for the second wicket.

But it was Maxwell who stole the show with his belligerent hitting as Australia crossed 150 in the 16th over. He put on 78 runs off 37 balls with Stoinis as Indian bowlers proved expensive even before the death overs began.

Krunal Pandya had a forgettable day with both bat and ball. He went for 0-55 in his four overs before rain intervened, sucking out momentum from the Australian innings and leaving them only five deliveries on resumption of play.

Bumrah bowled cleverly, conceding only five runs after the disruption, while Australia still finished with a challenging total on the board.

Live Blog: India vs Australia | Scorecard
TARGET: 174 in 17 overs


Overs 9: India 84/2, need 90 more off 48 balls
Successful over for Adam Zampa - dismissed KL Rahul and gave away just six runs in it.

Overs 8.2: India 81/2
OUT! Third umpire gave his decision in Australia's favour. KL Rahul gone stumped for 13

Overs 8: India 78/1
Big over for India - 17 came off it. Dhawan (59* off 31) hit a six and two fours in Jason Behrendorff's final over (4-0-43-1)

Overs 7.3: India 70/1
FIFTY for Shikhar Dhawan off 28 balls, his ninth in T20Is, which included a six and eight fours

Overs 7: India 61/1
First over of spin and Adam Zampa conceded eight runs in it. KL Rahul (10*) hit a four for his first boundary of the innings.

Overs 6: India 53/1
Shikhar Dhawan (42* off 25 balls) welcomed Andrew Tye with consecutive fours in the bowler's first over. India scored 12 runs off it

Overs 5: India 41/1
Successful over for the hosts. India lost opener Rohit Sharma to Jason Behrendorff

Overs 4.1: India 35/1
OUT! Jason Behrendorff struck in the fifth over to give Australia an important breakthrough, dismissed Rohit Sharma (7)

Overs 4: India 35/0
Dhawan (27* off 17) kept the momentum going and started the over with a four again.

Overs 3: India 27/0
One more boundary from Shikhar Dhawan's bat as they scored nine in the over. The left-hander is batting on 22 off 14 balls

Overs 2: India 18/0
Dhawan (13*) hit a four off Billy Stanlake in the over as India started the run chase on a positive note

Over 1: India 11/0
Shikhar Dhawan started aggressively, hitting Jason Behrendorff for two fours.

Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the middle to start the India run chase. Jason Behrendorff with the ball for Australia

The revised target for India is 174 in 17 overs (DLS). The 78-run stand for the fourth wicket between Maxwell (46) and Stoinis (33*) gave Australia the much needed boost after losing three quick wickets.

Overs 17: Australia 158/4
So Australia managed just five runs in the final five balls after rain delay

Overs 16.2: Australia 153/4
Jasprit Bumrah struck as soon as play resume, dismissed Glenn Maxwell (46).

15:30 IST: UPDATE! Australia will bat five more balls. It is now a 17-over game

Looks like covers are coming back after respite from rain for a few minutes.

Overs 16.1: Australia 153/3
BAD NEWS! Covers are coming out as the rain has started in Brisbane

Glenn Maxwell (46* off 23 balls) and Marcus Stoinis (31 off 15 balls) are in the middle for Australia and they have so far added an unbroken 78-run stand for the fourth wicket.



Overs 16: Australia 152/3
17 came of it as run started to flow freely for the hosts. Maxwell and Stoinis hit Krunal for a six each in the over. The partnership is growing very fast for the two Aussie batsmen

Overs 15: Australia 135/3
Kuldeep Yadav bring some respite again for India. No boundary in the over, even though eight runs came off it.

Overs 14: Australia 127/3
Another massive over for Australia - 23 came off it. Glenn Maxwell (33* off 17) smacked three consecutive sixes off Krunal Pandya to lead the hosts' run charge

Overs 13: Australia 104/3
Big over for the hosts - 14 came off it. Marcus Stoinis hit two fours off Khaleel Ahmed as Australia kept the pressure on the India bowlers

Overs 12: Australia 90/3
Marcus Stoinis took a successful review to change the 'LBW' decision by the umpire in the Krunal over. The ball was going over the stumps.

Overs 11: Australia 83/3
Another successful over from Kuldeep Yadav, dismissed the dangerous Lynn in it. New batsman Marcus Stoinis hit a four in the over to score eight runs off it.

Overs 10.1: Australia 75/3
OUT! Caught & Bowled. Kuldeep Yadav scalped the dangerous Chris Lynn (37 off 20). The Aussie batsman smacked four huge sixes in his 20-ball cameo

Overs 10: Australia 75/2
Chris Lynn welcomed Krunal Pandya with a six in his first over. Good for Pandya that he managed to restrict just eight runs in the over

Overs 9: Australia 67/2
Another good over from Kuldeep Yadav -- four runs and a wicket for the spinner in it

Overs 8.3: Australia 64/2
OUT! Kuldeep Yadav gave India a big respite from the onslaught. Aaron Finch gone for 27, which came off 24 balls with the help of three boundaries.

Overs 8: Australia 63/1
Massive over for the hosts - 21 came off it. Australia, specially Chris Lynn, has decided to break loose, as the right-hander smacked three huge sixes off Khaleel Ahmed

Overs 7: Australia 42/1
First over by spinner and Aussie batsmen are watchful as expected. Kuldeep Yadav gave away four singles in it.

Overs 6: Australia 38/1
Finch using the early respite to good use and hit Bhuvi for a four off first ball. But good comeback from the pacer, only three singles came after it in the over.

Overs 5: Australia 31/1
Successful over for both India and Khaleel Ahmed. Chris Lynn started his innings with a boundary

Overs 4.1: Australia 24/1
OUT! Good catch by Kuldeep Yadav as Khaleel Ahmed struck with his first ball of the match to dismiss D'Arcy Short (7).

Overs 4: Australia 24/0
Big over for the hosts - 12 came off it. It started with India skipper Virat Kohli dropping his counterpart Aaron Finch off the first ball. Bumrah then conceded two consecutive fours to Finch.

Overs 3: Australia 12/0
DÁrcy Short finished the Bhuvi over with a four, first of the match, as the hosts scored seven in it.

Overs 2: Australia 5/0
Watchful start from the Aussie openers. Jasprit Bumrah over ended with a swing and a miss from DÁrcy Short.

Over 1: Australia 1/0
Good start from Bhuvi, gave away just a single in the final ball of the over.

Here we go... Aaron Finch and D'Arcy Short in the middle to start the Australia innings. Bhuvneshwar Kumar with the ball for India

TOSS | India skipper Virat Kohli win the toss and opt to field first at The Gabba in Brisbane

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (c), Lokesh Rahul, Rishabh Pant (w), Dinesh Karthik, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, K Khaleel Ahmed

Australia: D Arcy Short, Aaron Finch (c), Chris Lynn, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Ben McDermott, Alex Carey (w), Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Billy Stanlake

PITCH REPORT
Brett Lee observes that there is a nice covering of grass. Not many cracks visible and the surface looks rock hard. Adds that the white ball should fly through. Opines that the conditions seem to be a little bit swirly which will make the ball talk.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the first of the three-match T20I series between India and Australia in Brisbane. The match starts at 13:20 IST and toss at 12:50 IST.