India captain Suryakumar Yadav, usually calm and collected on the field, was seen losing his temper during the fourth T20I against Australia at Carrara Oval in Queensland. Despite the brief flare-up, India cruised to a 48-run victory in the must-win clash, levelling the intensity of the series. The incident unfolded on the final delivery of the 12th over in Australia’s chase of 168. Shivam Dube had just dismissed Tim David and applied pressure on new batter Marcus Stoinis with two consecutive dot balls. However, the bowler erred on the last ball, sending down a short delivery well outside off stump. Stoinis took full advantage, cutting it for a boundary over backward point.
As the ball sped to the fence, an animated Suryakumar was seen shouting in frustration at Dube, clearly upset at the release of pressure in a critical moment. India, though, recovered swiftly to dominate the remainder of the match. Washington Sundar sparked a stunning collapse, claiming three wickets in the space of five balls as Australia folded from a strong 91 for 4 in the 12th over to 119 all out in 18.2 overs. It was the hosts’ second-lowest T20 total on home soil, behind only their 111 against New Zealand in Sydney in 2022. India’s spinners were the architects of the win, sharing six wickets between them. Sundar finished with figures of 3 for 3 from just 1.2 overs, Axar Patel contributed 2 for 20, and Varun Chakravarthy added 1 for 26. Axar’s all-round effort earned him the Player of the Match award after his unbeaten 21 off 11 balls lifted India past 150 earlier in the innings. “Batting at No. 7 helped me understand the surface,” Axar said. “The ball wasn’t coming on nicely and there was uneven bounce. I just focused on bowling straight and making an impact for the team.” Earlier, Shubman Gill anchored the innings with a solid 46 off 39 balls as India posted 167 for 8 after being sent in to bat. Adam Zampa was Australia’s best bowler, returning 3 for 45 from his four overs. The result gave India a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, with the final game scheduled for Saturday in Brisbane.
