Shreyas Iyer (53) shined with the bat before Mukesh Kumar took three wickets as India defeated Australia by six runs in Bengaluru to win the fifth and final T20I on Sunday. The result meant the young Indian band clinched the series 4-1.
With Australia needing 10 runs to win in the last six balls, left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh (2/40) produced a terrific final over including the key wicket of the dangerous Matthew Wade (22 off 15 balls, 4x4s) to ensure India's victory.
Chasing 161 to win, Australia managed 154/8 in 20 overs with Kumar returning 4-0-32-3 and leg spinner Ravi Bishnoi producing a fine 4-0-29-2.
Left-arm spinner Axar Patel also produced an all-round show, taking 1/14 from his four overs before he made a vital 31 with the bat.
For Australia, Ben McDermott hit 54 (36) and Travis Head made 28 (15).
At one stage, the visitors looked on course for victory as Ben McDermott looked brilliant but the chase was derailed when the 28-year-old tried to hammer Arshdeep for six and ended up holing out to long-off.
Once McDermott departed, Mukesh struck twice in quick succession to leave Australia reeling on 129-7 before Arshdeep bowled an excellent final over.
After being put in to bat earlier, India needed a half-century from Iyer (53) to post a defensible total, with Axar Patel (31) also contributing runs.
Australia's Jason Behrendorff and Ben Dwarshuis picked up two wickets apiece.
Brief scores: India 160/8 in 20 overs (Shreyas Iyer 53, Jitesh Sharma 24, Axar Patel 31; Jason Behrendorff 2/38, Ben Dwarshuis 2/30) beat Australia 154/8 in 20 overs (Ben McDermott 54; Mukesh Kumar 3/32, Ravi Bishnoi 2/29) by 6 runs.
- With PTI inputs
