Glenn Maxwell’s record equalling fourth T20 hundred helped Australia beat India by five wickets to stay alive in the five-match series after back-to-back losses.
Maxwell scored 104 not out off 48 balls as Australia finished with 5-225 in 20 overs in reply to India’s 3-222.
Ruturaj Gaikwad had earlier become the first Indian batter to score a T20 hundred against Australia. He was 123 not out off 57 balls.
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A Maxwell special won the day for Australia, though, as he smacked eight fours and eight sixes to rescue the visitors from a precarious 5-134 in 13.3 overs.
In doing so, Maxwell equalled India’s Rohit Sharma for the most international T20 hundreds — four.
Needing 43 runs off 12 balls, skipper Matthew Wade smacked 22 runs off Axar Patel’s penultimate over.
With 21 needed off six balls, India was hampered by an over-rate penalty for lagging behind time. Maxwell took advantage of one less fielder marshaling the boundary and smacked Prasidh Krishna’s final over for 23 runs.
India leads the series 2-1 after wins in Visakhapatnam by two wickets and in Thiruvananthapuram by 44 runs.
Put in to bat, Gaikwad scored his first T20 hundred to propel India after a disastrous start — the hosts lost Yashaswi Jaisal and Ishan Kishan for six and nought, respectively.
Gaikwad then dropped anchor, putting on 57 off 47 balls with skipper Suryakumar Yadav, who scored 39 off 29 balls.
Gaikwad hit 13 fours and seven sixes in his knock, including 30 runs off Maxwell’s only over. It was the second-highest individual score by an Indian batter in T20s after Shubman Gill’s 126 not out against New Zealand this year. It helped India cross the 200-run mark for the third time in this series.
Tilak Varma made 31 not out off 24 balls, with the duo putting on 141 runs off only 59 balls for the unbroken fourth wicket.
In reply, Australia had lost its way halfway through the chase despite Travis Head providing a solid start with 35 off 18 balls.
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He added 47 with Aaron Hardie (16) before falling to Avesh Khan in the sixth over. Wrist spinner Ravi Bishnoi bowled Josh Inglis for 10, while also sending back Tim David for a golden duck.
In between, Patel removed Marcus Stoinis for 17. Despite losing five wickets, Australia was still abreast of the required rate, which gave Maxwell and Wade enough platform to launch their assault.
Maxwell had reached 50 off 28 balls, with his second 50 coming off only 19 balls. He put on 91 runs off 40 balls with Wade — the last 45 coming off 12 balls — as the capacity Guwahati crowd was stunned into silence.
The day’s aggregate — 447 — was the highest in T20s between India and Australia.
The next game is in Raipur on Saturday morning (AEDT) and the finale will be in Bengaluru on Monday.