Australia's Ben McDermott hammers his career-best T20I score: Key stats
Ben McDermott played a valiant knock against India in the fifth T20I in Bengaluru. He kept Australia in the hunt during the run chase for the majority as he brought up his second T20I half-century. The 28-year-old hammered a fine 36-ball 54, an inning laced with five maximums. Despite his best efforts, Australia were restricted to 154/8, falling short by six runs. Here's more.
A blazing knock from McDermott
McDermott came to the crease at first down after Australia lost Josh Philippe early on. He chalked out a proper strategy and selected the bowlers that he wanted to attack. He stitched a 47-run partnership along with Tim David when Australia were cruising in the run chase. However, it went downhill with David's dismissal before McDermott holed out Rinku Singh off Arshdeep Singh's bowling.
A look at his T20I numbers
Playing his 25th T20I for Australia, McDermott has compiled 342 runs at an average of 18. As mentioned this was second fifty in T20I cricket. He has been in and out of the Australian T20I setup since making his debut against the UAE in 2018. Notably, this was his career-best score in T20Is. His previous fifty came against Sri Lanka in February 2022.
A look at the match summary
India kept losing wickets in the middle phase after a decent start. However, a couple of crucial partnerships between Shreyas Iyer (53), Jitesh Sharma and Axar Patel saw India post a fighting total of 160/8 from their 20 overs. In reply, McDermott (54) was the lone warrior for Australia as they were restricted to only 154/8. Mukesh Kumar finished with a career-best 3/32.
