Mukesh Kumar was at his exceptional best during the fifth game between India and Australia. The dead-rubber last match between the two teams took place at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore.
Mukesh Kumar bowled a magnificent spell of fast bowling against Australia. His best came during the 17th over when he picked two wickets and tilted the game in India’s favor. He caught the attention of many with the delivery he got out Ben Dwarshuis.
Mukesh Kumar produced a peach to send the Australia batter packing. He bowled a seam-up ball that skidded off the deck. The batter tried to stay at the leg-side of the ball to run it down to third man. He played down the wrong line and the ball uprooted the middle stump.
Here’s the video:
Two in Two for Mukesh Kumar ??
Australia need 20 off 14 with three wickets in hand.#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/nrD6fUMGgq
— BCCI (@BCCI) December 3, 2023
Ben Dwarshuis bagged a golden duck as he had no answers to the peach by Mukesh Kumar. The pacer earlier in the over removed Matthew Short as well. The all-rounder was looking threatening but managed just 16 runs.
Mukesh Kumar removed Josh Phillippe in the powerplay as well to set the tone for his side. He picked three wickets and returned with the figures of 3/32 in his quota of 4 overs.
After Mukesh Kumar’s spell, Arshdeep Singh became the hero for India in the last game. The fast bowler defended 10 runs in the final over and helped his side win the game. India bagged the series by a margin of 4-1.
IND vs AUS: Thanks to God, I defended it – Arshdeep Singh
Arshdeep Singh talked about the last over, saying that he was thinking that he gave away runs in the first three overs. He also talked about the conversation with skipper Suryakumar Yadav and said that he will take a lot of learnings from this series. He added:
“I was thinking that I gave away too many runs (in the first three overs) and was hoping for another chance, and thanks to God, I defended it and also thanks to the staff that they believed in me. Surya (before bowling the final over) told me whatever happens, happens, and credit goes to the batters as well.
“We had a cushion of 15-20 runs and it was definitely more than par. According to the standards we have set as an Indian team, it was not near par (speaking about his performances in this series) but there are a lot of learnings to take and hoping to come back stronger.”
India will be next seen in action when they will tour South Africa.
