Washington Sundar led India over the line after Arshdeep Singh did the damage with the ball as they cruised to a five-wicket victory over Australia to tie their five-match T20I series at 1-1.
After the first match in Canberra was abandoned, Australia won the second contest by four wickets to steal a march in the series.
But, despite excellent contributions from Tim David (74) and Marcus Stoinis (64), their tally of 186-6 always looked short, and Arshdeep's 3-35 destroyed Australia's top order in Hobart on Sunday.
India had several batsmen make decent starts without going on to make big scores, but it was the excellent Sundar (49 off 23) who helped ensure the tourists reached their target with nine balls to spare.
David went on the attack against
the India spinners after Arshdeep had done early damage to remove Travis Head (6) and Josh Inglis (1), before Varun Chakravarthy accounted for Mitchell Marsh (11) and Mitchell Owen (0) in consecutive balls.
David smacked five sixes and eight fours in a masterful 38-ball knock before holing out to Tilak Varma at long-off.
Stoinis put on partnerships of 45 and 64 with David and Matthew Short (26) prior to slashing one to long-on and the grateful hands of Rinku Singh. Australia then put on just 16 runs in the final two overs as Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep put on a bowling clinic.
The in-form Abhishek Sharma made 25 off 16 as part of a 33-run stand with Shubman Gill (15) for India's opening wicket in reply, while Suryakumar Yadav (24) and Tilak (29) provided valuable contributions.
Washington was the stand-out with the bat for the tourists, though, crashing four sixes and three fours, as Jitesh Sharma (22 not out) proved an able partner on his first T20I outing since January 2024.
Washington Sundar's fiery knock helps India square the T20I series 1-1 in Hobart #AUSvIND : https://t.co/Hy7hN4WXXL pic.twitter.com/1ukGpqaUPq
— ICC (@ICC) November 2, 2025
Data Debrief: David an unlucky loser
This contest marked India's first-ever T20I in Hobart, and they walked away with a win at their first attempt at the venue in international cricket's shortest format.
David may have been on the losing side but he was the stand-out performer for Australia. His knock was his fifth-best in the format, and his best-ever versus India.
While Washington fell narrowly short of his half-century, it was his stands of 34 and 43 with Tilak and Jitesh that would prove crucial.
