Arshdeep delivers in final over, India sign off in style

With Aussies needing 10 runs in last over, pacer gives away only 3 and takes a wicket to seal 4-1 series win

- Aditya Chaturvedi

On what was an uncharacteristic Bengaluru pitch that offered plenty of assistance to the bowlers, India delivered a gritty performance to beat Australia by six runs in a thrilling fifth T20 International and claim the series 4-1 on Sunday.

Shreyas Iyer, who fell cheaply in the previous game, stepped up this time and scored a well-paced 53 (37 balls, 5x4,2x6) to take the hosts to 160/8. India did well collectively with the ball to keep chipping away with wickets before Australia skipper Matthew Wade took the game down to the wire.

But with 10 runs to defend in the last over, left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh held his nerves to dismiss Wade and concede just three runs, restricting the visitors to 154/8.

With Australia fielding a relatively inexperienced batting line-up, a lot depended on World Cup hero Travis Head in the chase. The left-hander started strong once again and struck a flurry of boundaries even as pacer Mukesh Kumar cleaned up Josh Philippe at the other end.