Australia batter Tim David played a blistering knock against India in the 3rd T20I at Bellerive Oval, Hobart. Tim David hammered a 38-ball 74 after India invited Australia to bat on a flat surface. With Australia down to 14/2, the star all-rounder shared a 59-run stand with skipper Mitchell Marsh. Notably, Tim David slammed his second T20I half-century against India.
Tim David came in after India removed Travis Head and Josh Inglis within three overs. Arshdeep Singh handed Australia dual blows. While Marsh struggled despite holding his fort, David came out all guns blazing. He attacked Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep before going after Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, and Varun Chakravarthy. Dube finally dismissed Tim David, who hammered 8 fours and 5 sixes, in the 13th over.
As mentioned, Tim David raced to his second half-century against India in T20I cricket. According to ESPNcricinfo, the Aussie all-rounder completed his 10th fifty-plus score in the format (1 ton). He now has 1,582 runs from 66 T20Is at an average of 36.79. His tally includes a strike rate of 169.01. Notably, Tim David has struck at 152.38 against India in T20Is.
During the Hobart game, Tim David also completed 1,000 T20I runs for Australia. Between 2019 and 2020, he played for Singapore, scoring 558 runs for them. In 52 T20Is for Australia, the star all-rounder has racked up 1,024 runs at an average of 33.03. His strike rate reads 175.34. This was his fifth T20I fifty for Australia. Notably, Tim David also completed 100 T20I sixes.
From Finisher to Starter: Tim David’s extraordinary T20I leap
At the Manuka Oval practice wickets earlier this week, a group of teenagers walking by Tim David’s net session on an adjoining footpath stopped to watch him. Perhaps lured by the crack off his bat, the schoolkids then started cheering his every blow.
At Bellerive Oval on Sunday, India’s T20 side, unlike those kids, had seen Tim David bat before. He played three seasons with their T20 captain, Suryakumar Yadav at Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. Still, his mix of conventional and modern stroke-play, and particularly his off-side hitting, appeared to briefly flummox even the laidback Suryakumar.
It is now up to Australia’s T20 brains trust to manage their own reaction to Tim David’s extraordinary batting. With a World Cup looming in a format that they are appearing one of the standout teams for, Andrew McDonald and co. are grappling with the question of how they deploy the game’s hottest short-form talent.
His latest outburst, a rollicking 38-ball 74 that sent sixes to all parts of his home Big Bash ground, came in a defeat with India levelling the BKT Tyres series after overhauling Australia’s 6-186 with nine balls to spare. The result to one side, it was further vindication for Australia’s decision to push Tim David, whose T20I strike-rate (199.47) among batters with at least 150 runs this year is bettered only by Abhishek Sharma’s (200.85), up their batting order. Before July, Tim David had never batted in the Powerplay for Australia.
When he was brought into their side as a lower-order finisher in 2022 on the back of their maiden T20 World Cup win the previous year, he filled a hole the Aussies had been attempting to plug for years. Despite him finding a home in a reliable middle-order alongside Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis and Matthew Wade, Australia flopped at the next two editions of the ICC event. It has prompted a recent rethink of their batting approach.
Going harder while the fielding restrictions are in place has been one key part of the shift. Getting Tim David into the game earlier has been a major factor in their swift transition to the new style and, given his lack of experience facing the new ball, his Powerplay returns have been remarkable.
Against India in Hobart, Tim David came to the crease in the third over with just 14 runs on the board. He drove his first ball for four with a traditional off drive off Arshdeep Singh, before blitzing Jasprit Bumrah and Varun Chakaravarthy for boundaries as he bludgeoned his way to 26 from 14 balls by the time the fielding restrictions were lifted. It proved a sound launchpad to keep attacking.
It had been a similar story in games earlier this year. Against West Indies in July, he started his innings in the third and fifth T20Is in the Powerplay, going on to cart 102no off just 37 balls and 30 off 12 respectively. He was in during the fourth over during the first two T20Is against South Africa the following month, making 83 off 52 and 50 off 24.
There has been no more effective Powerplay batter this year in T20Is. From 45 balls faced with the field up, Tim David has hit 97 runs and been out just once. His Powerplay strike-rate is 215.56, the best of anyone who has scored at least 60 runs.
In short, Australia’s best batter at the end of their innings has also become one of their best players at the start of it. Seeing the Tim Dávid’s emergence in shortest format, Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan heaped massive praise on Tim David for his ballistic innings vs India.
Irfan Pathan lauds Tim David for his ballistic 74 vs India in the 3rd T20I
Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan lauded Australia’s Tim David for his explosive half-century in the third T20I of the five-match series. The contest was played on Sunday, November 2, at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart.
Put in to bat, Australia posted 186/6 in their 20 overs, with Tim David shining with a brilliant 74 off 38 balls, featuring eight fours and five sixes. Marcus Stoinis supported him well with 64 off 39 deliveries, while Arshdeep Singh picked up three wickets for India.
In response, Washington Sundar top-scored with an unbeaten 49 off 23 balls as the visitors won the game by five wickets with nine balls to spare. Despite Australia’s defeat, Tim David drew praise for his explosive knock, with Irfan Pathan lauding the hard-hitting batter in a YouTube video. Pathan said:
“Look, the way Tim David batted, I think right now if you talk about the top five six-hitters in the world, his name will definitely be included. There is no doubt about that. He even hit Varun for two consecutive sixes when Varun was changing his angle and wickets were also falling, but it didn’t affect him at all.”
The 41-year-old further pointed out that India missed a key tactic against Tim David by targeting the off-stump line, which he felt wasn’t the right approach. Irfan Pathan explained:
“However, the Indian team missed one thing against him, as a bowler, you first need to see where he is standing. Tim David was standing outside the leg stump, and whenever he stands outside leg stump, it means that his off stump is not actually the off stump, it becomes the width.
That’s why, even if you target the middle stump, for him it turns into the off stump, because his bat remains open and he stands slightly toward the leg side, away from the stumps.”
Tim David has featured in 66 T20Is, scoring 1,582 runs at an average of 36.79 and a strike rate of 169.01, with nine fifties and one hundred to his name.
In the same video, Irfan Pathan highlighted that given Tim David’s tendency to bat outside the leg stump, Indian bowlers should target his pads and avoid giving him any room. Irfan Pathan said:
“So, whenever you bowl to him, either target his leg stump or his pads. That will be the right line. Do not give him room. Bowling to him on the stumps, especially the off stump, gives him room, which the Indian bowlers did. If you look at his wagon wheel, around 70 to 80 percent of his runs came on the offside, and there was only one run on the leg side near fine leg.”
“That means the Indian bowlers neither used enough short balls nor targeted his pads. They gave him complete freedom to open up and play his shots. So, it’s very important as a bowling unit to first observe where the batter is standing. Even though it didn’t turn out to be a match-winning innings, this analysis is crucial,” he added.
The two teams will face off again in the fourth T20I on Wednesday, November 5, at the Bill Pippen Oval in Gold Coast.
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