NAGPUR: Dinesh Karthik, the wicketkeeper for India, hit Daniel Sams for 10 runs in two deliveries of the last over to help India beat Australia by six wickets in an eight-over-a-side match. Karthik praised Rohit Sharma, the captain of India, for his great innings, which helped India tie the series 1-1.
Sharma hit a brilliant 46 not out in 20 balls, which made up for the game starting 2 hours and 30 minutes late. He led from the front, smashing four fours and four sixes, and India won by six wickets with four balls to spare despite a great spell by Adam Zampa (3-16).
Even though Karthik won the game with nine runs off the eighth and final over, the 37-year-old veteran from Tamil Nadu said that Rohit Sharma's innings was better and set up the win. Australia had 90/5 after five overs, and India scored 92/4 in 7.2 overs to beat them by six wickets.
"To come out and play such shots against a bowling attack that was among the best in the world was superb. Rohit did a great job, and he set us up to win. I think he deserved to be named Player of the Game "Karthik said this at the press conference after the game on Friday.
Karthik, who plays for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL, was asked how he was able to hit big shots after just coming in to bat. He said that he had been practising for these kinds of situations.
Aaron Finch, the captain of Australia, said that his team was "out-executed" in the game.
"You probably plan for five over games and then add a bit more. World Cups are always in the back of your mind when you are making plans for other things. At the end, we just didn't play as well as they did "Finch said this during the ceremony after the game. He, too, said Rohit Sharma had a great innings, but when his team was asked to bat first, Axar Patel's bowling held them back.
"Rohit was a genius. And the two overs Axar threw probably made the difference between winning and losing. (Matthew) Wade is always so calm at the end of an innings. He helped us out in a great way. We almost had it, "Finch said goodbye.
In fact, Patel made the difference for India when he took two wickets in one over to stop Australia from making a run. Australia would have been able to score more runs and make things harder for India if he hadn't stepped in. But in the end, India won a memorable game with Rohit leading from the front.
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