India beat Australia in the third T20I of their bilateral series to seal a 2-1 win, and break an eight-year home unbeaten run.
India inflict Australia's first home series loss since November 2017
India women began their all-format tour of Australia with a T20I series win. They emerged victorious in a rain-affected first game by 21 runs (D/L method) before going down in the second by 19 runs. But Harmanpreet Kaur’s team brought their A-game in the decider to come out on top by 17 runs.
Batting first, India were jolted early by Shafali Verma’s dismissal in the third over, but Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues’s mammoth partnership put them back in front. The duo added 121 runs for the second wicket and each hit half-centuries to take India to 176. Richa Ghosh chipped in with a quickfire seven-ball 18.
Australia’s chase started on the wrong note, with Shreyanka Patil getting the better of an in-form Georgia Voll in the second over. Renuka Thakur removed Beth Mooney in the following over before Patil returned to castle Ellyse Perry in the fourth to reduce Australia to 32-3 in just 3.3 overs.
Ashleigh Gardner held onto one end, adding crucial runs with Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland, to take Australia to 128-5, needing 49 more to win in more than four overs. But Gardner’s departure put India back in front, and Shree Charani’s double-wicket 17th over pushed India closer to victory.
Australia eventually finished at 159-9, handing India the game and the series. Shree Charani and Patil picked up three wickets apiece, while Arundhati Reddy chipped in with two.
3rd T20I, Australia Women vs India Women
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This is the first time since November 2017 that Australia have lost a home bilateral series in any format, remaining unbeaten across 20 white-ball series and four one-off Tests in that time. They had lost the T20I rubber of the 2017/18 Ashes 2-1 to England, after going down to New Zealand in a home T20I series earlier that year. India had also beaten Australia in a T20I series down under in January 2016.
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