India-W go down fighting against upbeat Australia-W to concede T20I series

Despite being within inches of what would have been a dream finish, the Indian women’s cricket team failed to keep Australia at bay from another series triumph in the T20I series. Losing another important toss and with all the shenanigans of the surface coming together, Team India did try and stretch the contest as hard as they could but they would eventually come short in the long race.

Winning the toss, Australia opted to bowl first and India did get off to a fine start. Shafali Verma (26) and Smriti Mandhana (29) added 39 runs for the opening stand before Megan Schutt managed to get the better of the former. Jemimah Rodrigues and Mandhana fell in quick succession, opening up the floodgates for the visitors. Harmanpreet Kaur’s dwindling returns continued as she was dismissed for just 3.

Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma slotted well in the middle-order to try and help India get past the triple figure mark. Sharma fell for 14 just ahead of the collective century mark for the Women in Blue while Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur did put up a fight to propel India to 147. Richa was dismissed for 34 while Kaur stayed unbeaten for 17.

Defending 148, the Indian bowlers put on a dismal show as Alyssa Healy (55) and Beth Mooney (52) steered the Aussie ship clear of any possible jeopardy. The opening duo added 85 runs, which somewhat proved to be the telling blow for the Indian aspirations despite Deepti Sharma claiming the Aussie skipper’s wicket.

Tahlia McGrath added another 20 runs while Mooney was happy to sit back and play anchor at the other end as Australia cruised towards the finish line. Despite Pooja Vastrakar’s double whammy on successive deliveries, clinching the wickets of McGrath and Ellyse Perry, Phoebe Litchfield ensured that she got the job done for the visitors as she stayed unbeaten for 17 and Australia got across the line in 18.4 overs.