T20I: India collapse to hand Australia 21-run win

MUMBAI: Star all-rounder Ellyse Perry (47 off 75), Grace Harris ( 41 off 18) and a disciplined performance with the ball guided Australia Women to a convincing 21-run win in the third T20I against India and a 2-1 lead in the five-match series at Brabourne Stadium, here on Wednesday night.

Batting first, Australia posted 172 for 8 in 20 overs. In reply, India were restricted to 151 for 7 despite a 41-ball 52 by Shafali Verma.

Chasing a challenging total, last game's star performer Smriti Mandhana struggled to get going before she got out to Darcie Brown for 1 off 10. After her wicket, Shafali and Jemimah Rodrigues struck regular boundaries to maintain the required run-rate.

Rodrigues (16) struck three fours off Annabel Sutherland but couldn't continue longer and got out to Brown in the 5th over. Shafali, who was dropped by Ashleigh Gardner off Megan Schutt, helped India to 41/2 at the end of the powerplay.

After the end of powerplay, Shafali became more aggressive and hit a six off Alana King followed by three fours in a Nicola Carey over. She along with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur took to 79/2 at the halfway stage of their innings.

Eventually, India needed 51 off the last four overs but they fell well short of the target as Australia kept the hosts in check, with Schutt bagging the important wicket of Harmanpreet in the 17th over. Gardner gave away only three runs in the 18th over and despite Deepti Sharma striking three fours of Carey in 19th, 27 off the final over was too big a task for India.

Brief scores: Australia 172/8 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 75, Grace Harris 41; Renuka Singh 2-24) beat India 151/7 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 52, Harmanpreet Kaur 37; Darcie Brown 2-19) by 21 runs. IANS

Also Read: Women's T20I Rankings: McGrath becomes No.1 batter, Mandhana holds third place

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