Sundar shines as India level T20 series with Australia

SYDNEY :Washington Sundar smashed an unbeaten 49 from 23 balls to drive India to a five-wicket victory over Australia in the third Twenty20 in Hobart on Sunday, tying up the five-match series at 1-1 with two games to play.

Tim David earlier bludgeoned a spectacular 38-ball 74 and Marcus Stoinis chipped in with a 64 as Australia posted 186-6 in their 20 overs and it was always going to require a disciplined bowling effort to deny India's batsmen.

Nathan Ellis bowled well for his three for 36 but Josh Hazlewood was sorely missed after he left the squad to prepare for the Ashes in the wake of his Man of the Match performance in the Melbourne victory on Friday.

Hometown seamer Ellis removed Abhishek Sharma (25) and Axar Patel (17) with bouncers and also trapped the other opener, Shubman Gill, in front for 15 but India never really looked under any pressure in the chase.

Sundar hit the first of his four sixes from the second ball he faced and enjoyed a stand of 35 with Tilak Varma (29) for the fifth wicket before Jitesh Sharma (22 not out) helped him to get India across the line in a partnership of 34.

India, who had the rare experience of winning the toss and chose to bowl first, made three changes to their team from their loss in Melbourne on Friday with returns for Sundar, Jitesh andArshdeep Singh.

"I think it was really important to win the toss, I think it was 19 or 20 tosses in a row, so good to break that streak," said India skipper Suryakumar Yadav.

"I think it was a great performance from all the three guys (called in). There was a good contribution from everybody, with the ball, with the bat, and I'm very happy to be on the winning side."

Left-arm seamer Arshdeep made an immediate impact by dismissing Travis Head with