Australia, headed by Alyssa Healy, won the T20I series 2-1 on Tuesday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai following another impressive performance all around. After holding India to 147/6, the visitors won by seven wickets after chasing the target down in 18.4 overs.
Australia won the toss and chose to bowl first to torment the Indian batting order as Megan Schutt looked all set to bowl the first over. As both the Indian openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana were off the mark, Verma came up with a smooth flick to score the first four of the evening and a second in the following over.
And there was Verma with a rain of boundaries in the fourth over hitting three boundaries one after another and one on the third ball of the next over before unfortunately getting an early dismissal on the following ball as Schutt got the breakthrough for her team amid raging runs off Verma’s bat.
But Mandhana made it very clear on the first ball of the sixth over with the match’s first maximum that things are going to be different in this clash. Although Mandhana looked confident, Jemimah Rodrigues had to leave early only on the last ball of the eight over and an unfortunate Mandhana was the next in the queue to walk back to the pavilion at a well-played 28-ball 29.
2 in 2 for @Vastrakarp25 ⚡️⚡️
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 9, 2024
And the packed DY Patil stadium, with over 43,000 in attendance, erupts with joy 🏟️🙌
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/nsPC3lefeg#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/PMsPvXDe1c
And there was the collapse of the Indian batting order as the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur played an irresponsible shot to gift her wicket away on the last ball of the tenth over. Although Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma tried somewhat utterly to contain the Australian attack as Ghosh got her first six in the 13th over, Sharma had to depart too in the 15th.
But Ghosh almost tried to get the runs high on the scoreboard with two sixes and two fours, but her blatant inning had to finally depart in the 20th over at a 34-run standoff just 28 balls. But the Indian innings finally came to an end after Amanjot Kaur’s boundary on the third ball and Pooja Vastrakar’s six on the last ball to sum the total up at 147 for the loss of 6.
The Indian innings collapsed and appeared destined for yet another lacklustre conclusion. But Amanjot Kaur and Richa Ghosh combined 36 off only 27 balls to give the innings some life. Pooja Vastrakar hit the last ball for a six to give the innings a perfect end.
But 147 was still a poor score, as the Australian openers quickly demonstrated when Healy hit a brilliant powerplay. She took it slow at first, then went all out on all the bowlers with her power game. The Australian captain concluded her farewell tour in style, despite having had a very disappointing tour by her standards.
Well batted, skipper!
— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) January 9, 2024
50 in T20I no.150 for Australia 💪 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/vpkazGrilj
While the visitors glided in the run chase, Beth Mooney used her time and put together a fifty of her own. Healy’s shot to point for Rodrigues to make a catch, which appeared to be good enough in real time, caused a disagreement when the score was 60/0. However, after multiple replays, the third umpire appeared hesitant to rule it out, giving Healy a fortunate reprieve.
Before succumbing to Deepti, Healy maintained her loose style of play, perhaps adding insult to injury for the Indian players. Vastrakar’s successive delivery of Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry gave the home team a little moment of happiness, but by that point, the game was all but lost.
Mooney raised one end, and Phoebe Litchfield, who was playing well, swiftly completed the task to give the Australian team another trophy. Healy’s team showed up when it mattered, as they usually do in high-stakes games, despite trailing 0–1 in the series and playing oddly inconsistently in the first two games.
Brief scores: India vs Australia 3rd T20I
India 147/7 in 20 overs (Richa Ghosh 34, Smriti Mandhana 29; Annabel Sutherland 2-12, Georgia Wareham 2-24) lost to Australia 149/3 in 18.4 overs (Alyssa Healy 55, Beth Mooney 52*; Pooja Vastrakar 2-26) by 7 wickets.
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