Australia beat India by 54 runs in 5th women's T20I
Mumbai: Australia beat India by 54 runs in the fifth and final women's T20I to take the five-match series 4-1 here on Tuesday.
Chasing an imposing 197 to win, the Indian batters cut a sorry figure as they were bowled out for 142 with Deepti Sharma top-scoring with a 34-ball 53.
Earlier, Ashleigh Gardner (66 not out) and Grace Harris (64 not out) smashed scintillating unbeaten fifties as Australia recovered from 17 for 2 to post 196 for 4, the highest total of the series. Defending the total, Heather Garham (4/8) took a hat-trick, while Gardner (2/20) scalped two.
For India, Anjali Sarvani (1/30), Deepti Sharma (1/46), Shafali Verma (1/17) and Devika Vaidya (1/26) were among wickets. Heather Graham became only the second woman cricketer from her country to take a T20 hat-trick as Australia crushed India by 54 runs in the final match to clinch the five-game series 4-1 here on Tuesday.
Graham (4/8 from 2 overs) was the star performer with the ball for Australia as she first dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in the last two deliveries of the 13th over.
She then returned in the final over of the innings to not only claim a hat-trick with the opening ball in the form of Renuka Singh but also picked up the prized scalp of Deepti Sharma (53 off 34) in the final delivery. Australian pacer Megan Schutt was the first woman from her country to claim a hat-trick in T20 cricket in 2018.
Sent into bat, Asheigh Gardner (66 not out off 32) and Grace Harris (64 not out off 35) struck explosive unbeaten half-centuries to power Australia to an imposing 196 for four.
The Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure after initial success as Gardner and Harris stitched an attacking unbeaten 129 off just 62 balls to fire Australia to their highest total of the series.
The asking rate was too tall for India as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 142.
India started their big chase with a bang with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (4) pulling Darcie Brown across the square-leg boundary in the first delivery of the innings.
But Mandhana's stay was short-lived as two balls later she holed out to Grace Harris at forward square leg, looking to flick the ball.
One-down Harleen Deol came all out attacking and struck a boundary through point and gully from her first ball of the innings.
Shafali Verma (13) then got a reprieve in the third over when she was dropped by Harris at point after the batter miscued a shot. But it was not Shafali's day as she was caught by Annabel Sutherland off the bowling of Gardner at long-on.
Harleen Deol played a 16-ball 24-run cameo before becoming a victim of an unnecessary run out. Things turned bad to worse when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur departed. Introduced into the attack in the ninth over, Annabel Sutherland struck gold with her first delivery, trapping Harmanpreet infront of wicket as the batter failed to gauge the length of the delivery.
Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh struck two boundaries before perishing and then Heather Graham dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in consecutive deliveries to be in the fray for a hat-trick.
