India vs Australia 3rd T20I: Match called off due to wet outfield, series drawn at 1-1

The rain played spoilsport due to which the last and the final match was called off resulting into David Warner and Virat Kohli sharing the trophy

The third and the final T20I between India and Australia has been called off due to the wet outfield at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. The T2oI series is drawn 1-1 and the trophy is shared by both the teams. Earlier, the match officials couldn’t conduct the toss at its fixed time i.e, 6:30 PM IST because of the wet outfield. It was later inspected at 7:00 PM IST by the officials, however, the conditions remained the same which delayed the game a bit more. By 7:45 PM IST, which was the next inspection time, the weather turned windy and the covers were called on. At 8:26  PM IST, the officials declared the ground unfit to conduct the game and finally called off the match.

20:29 IST Bad news folks, the match has been called off due to wet outfield. India and Australia will share the trophy, the series remains drawn at 1-1.

20:13 IST The covers are still on the pitch region. The match officials are yet to come up with a decision on the third and the final India vs Australia T2oI. Meanwhile, a few of the Indian batsmen were spotted practicing some left-handed shots on the ground.

19:45 IST The inspection is yet to be carried out, however, the weather suddenly got very windy. The covers are on the ground. Stay updated for the latest updates.

19:32 IST Next inspection is to be carried out at 7:45 pm IST. The final decision is yet to be taken by the match officials.

19:28 IST Still no sign of game happening anytime soon. The Umpires are being cautious due to the wet outfield. The toss stays delayed.  

19:12 IST The Umpires, match referee and both the captains had a conversation. The fate of the match is still undecided. Stay tuned for more updates.

19:06 IST The inspection does not look good. The Umpires don’t look satisfied with the ground conditions.

18:59 IST Inspection to take place soon.

18:36 IST The ground staff are still working, a half an hour delay in the third T20I.

18:24 IST The toss has been delayed due to wet ground conditions. The next inspection will be at 7 PM IST.

18:03 IST The pitch has a few cracks on it and might look help the fast bowlers. It will not be a surprise if India go ahead with three frontline seamers.

17:40 IST There is a Bollywood angle to the match as well. Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan will be gracing the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium with his presence alongside Dangal actor Zaira Wasim.

17:30 IST Warner will be playing at Hyderabad, his home ground from IPL. This is what the felt about playing the decider there, “hopefully the crowd gets behind us in Hyderabad”.

India vs Australia 3rd T20I inUth’s prediction: Looking at the form India are in they might just make an emphatic comeback. Though Australian skipper David Warner and Moises Henriques have had a fair bit of experience playing at Hyderabad. The game is supposed to go right down the wire with the hosts edging past the visitors and sealing the series. Keeping the pitch in mind, Nehra’s inclusion might not come across as a surprise.

There are changes expected in Indian side while Australia might go ahead with the winning combination. Rahul has not been in the best of the forms in the recent matches. Dinesh Karthik might get a place in the side and strengthen the middle order.

India have not lost a single three-match T20I series in the history of the format. Australia will be looking to end the series with a win and carry the momentum into Ashes 2017-18. The Aussies were able to tick all the boxes in the previous game, they will be looking for a similar effort in this game as well. The toss will be crucial as Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method might come into play.

It has come right down to the third T20I. At first, it seemed like India would triumph over Australia easily like they did in the ODI series but David Warner & Co. had other plans. The second T20I was an eye opener for India as they were outclassed in almost every department of the game, courtesy Jason Behrendorff. The pitch conditions at Hyderabad are completely different from that off Guwahati. Though rain threat looms large over the decider. There is a chance that both the teams share the trophy if rain plays spoilsport in the game. The biggest attraction of the decider is Ashish Nehra who is in his final phase of his career. He has already announced his retirement and is expected to don the Indian jersey for the penultimate time. His chance of playing also increases as Nehra knows the Hyderabad pitch because it was his home ground in IPL.

Squads:

India: Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli(c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni(w), Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Lokesh Rahul, Dinesh Karthik, Axar Patel, Ashish Nehra

Australia: David Warner(c), Aaron Finch, Moises Henriques, Travis Head, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Tim Paine(w), Nathan Coulter-Nile, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa, Jason Behrendorff, Daniel Christian, Kane Richardson

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