Follow UsChasing 223 is never going to be an easy task. However, with Glenn Maxwell in your line-up, no opposition can be at peace. He smashed his way to an unbeaten 104 off 48 to help his side to a five-wicket victory. With this win, Australia stay alive in the five-match T20 international (T20I) series after losing the first two games.
Despite the daunting target, Maxwell says he felt that Australia would have a chance if they batted until the last over.
"It all went by pretty quickly. The dew obviously makes it difficult to hold on to, we knew it was going to be hard work to bowl yorkers, and there probably wasn't a number in our head at the back end to set ourselves to. We thought if we can stay in the hunt until the last over, we can give ourselves a chance, you never know it might come off the middle and you might stay in the game. We did really well to stay in the game until the final over," Maxwell said after the match.
He also lauded Matthew Wade for the way he took on Axar Patel in the penultimate over. "Knowing that Axar had one over left meant Wadey had to be out there to cash in and I was trying to take on all the pace bowlers and get the run rate under a little bit under control. The way Wadey controlled the other end and got me through the back-end of my innings and he was brilliant out there," Maxwell, who will not be available for the final two matches, said.
Skipper Wade admits that he was not pleased to chase 223, especially when they had India at 190-odd at the start of the 20th over.
"I wouldn't say 'confident' was my first thought [to chase 223], but I was pretty grumpy after handing Maxi the last over; before that one went for 30 I thought we were right in the game, but unfortunately, that one went for 30 and I was more grumpy than confident."
India captain Suryakumar Yadav's plan was simple: Get Maxwell out early. "We just wanted to get Maxi out quickly, that was the plan," Suryakumar said.
"But when you're defending 222 with so much dew you have to give something to the bowlers. I felt like how we played at Trivandrum, there was heavy dew, they lost wickets early but wickets in hand for them meant they were always in the game. I told the boys in the drinks break to get Maxwell out quickly but that was insane."
Surya also praised Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored his maiden ton. "Fantastic knock from Gaikwad, he took the innings deep after I got out. I've always said in franchise cricket as well that he's a special player and the way he batted, he showed it," Surya said.
Australia will now turn their attention to Raipur, where they take on India in the fourth T20I on Friday (December 1). A win there would take the series down to the wire and the deciding match will be played at a high-scoring venue in Bengaluru on December 3.