After sealing the T20I series in their favour with successive wins, India lost the third match by 15 runs to the Southern Stars. Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry lifted the team to a respectable 136 for five with an unbeaten 42-ball 55 and then returned to claim the Indian middle-order. Her career best figures of four for 12 helped the hosts finish the T20I series on a winning note.
Chasing 137, India were 95 for three in the 14th over when Perry dealt her first blow. The pacer claimed the key wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur who was on song to get a foot in the door. The Indian middle-order bat had collected 18 runs of the previous over by slamming Grace Harris for couple of sixes on either side of the wicket and a crisp boundary. But the all-rounder who was brought in for her second spell ended the fourth wicket stand which was beginning to take shape. Kaur perished hitting the pacer to towards midwicket where Alex Blackwell took the catch.
In her next over Perry clipped Anuja Patil’s bails off the first ball and Jhulan Goswami’s mis-hit off the last ball of the over was caught by Blackwell at midwicket leaving India on 104 for six at the end of 16 overs. The balance had tipped in the home team’s favour when debutant Deepti Sharma joined Smriti Mandhana in the middle.
Mandhana, who had not opened as usual after suffering from an injury during fielding and had come in to bat No 5 perished hitting Perry straight to mid-on in the bowler’s next over. Perry snatched the game from India with her second spell.
India needed 27 off the last two overs in which Shikha Pandey perished taking the aerial route only to be caught by the wicketkeeper as the ball spiraled down. With Sharma and S Verma fighting an improbable battle India were held to 121 for eight at the end of their quota of overs after getting off to a decent start early on. Before Mithali Raj was yorked by Rene Farrell she had put together a 33-run stand with V Vanitha. The opener then departed with the team on 50. 17 runs later Veda Krishnamurthy chipped the ball to Sarah Coyte at point after hitting Harris for a six off the previous ball.
Earlier, after Raj elected to field, Jhulan Goswami claimed Alyssa Healy off the first ball of the game. However, Meg Lanning forged a 49-run stand with Beth Mooney to set the innings on course. The Australia captain who has been in good nick, however, departed taking the aerial route only to be caught in the deep. Gayakwad gave India their next breakthrough by ending the flourishing partnership between Mooney and Perry for 26. Caught at mid-on, Mooney returned to the pavilion with the team on 74 for three.
While Harris was run out soon after, she was followed by Jess Jonassen. Running in diving forward Krishnamurthy took the catch at long-on to send back Jonassen and leave Australia on 109 for five.
Perry kept the scorecard ticking and then with Blackwell at the other end took on the Indian bowlers to set the visitors a modest target. She smashed Goswami over long-on for six in the penultimate over and then in the last she struck Gayakwad for four through long on and past backward point and finished with a over long-on to complete a half-century in the process.
Brief scorecard: Australia 136/5 in 20 overs (E Perry 55*, B Mooney 34, R Gayakwad 2/23) beat India 121/8 in 20 overs (V Vanitha 28, E Perry 4/12, R Farrell 2/18) by 15 runs
Player of the Match – E Perry for her all-round performance
Player of the Series – Jhulan Goswami
