NAVI MUMBAI:
Alyssa Healy
led from the front as Australia beat India by seven wickets in the deciding T20I to win the three-match series 2-1 at the DY Patil Stadium here on Tuesday. The Aussie skipper kept well, marshalled her resources to perfection and topped it up with her 16th T20I half-century to guide Aussies to their fifth T20I series win over India and third one on Indian soil.
That she received able support from her bowlers, fielders and fellow batters made the going easy for her.
Chasing a target of 148, Healy’s 38-ball 55, which was laced with nine fours and one six, and her opening wicket stand of 85 in 10 overs with Beth Mooney (52*, 45b; 5x4) took the game away from India in a jiffy.
It was India's fourth-straight T20I series loss on home soil. Previously, they had lost to South Africa (2021), Australia (2022) and England (2023). Their last series win at home came against South Africa in 2019.
India's bowlers started aggressively but once the initial movement died down, and the pitch became conducive to hitting through the line, Healy decided to take on young medium-pacer
Titas Sadhu
by hitting her for three boundaries in the fourth over.
Australia didn't look back. In the next over, Mooney hit Renuka Singh for two fours and a six. Healy got a reprieve when she was on 38 as the inconclusive TV replays meant she was adjudged not out after she was caught at point by Jemimah Rodrigues off Pooja Vastrakar (2-26). Indians were confident that the catch was taken cleanly but based on the television replays, the third umpire ruled it not out.
There were some jitters towards the end when Vastrakar dismissed
Tahlia McGrath
(20, 15b; 4x4) and
Ellyse Perry
(0) off back-to-back deliveries, but Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield (17*, 13b; 3x4) guided them over the line.
Earlier, India skipper
Harmanpreet Kaur
said at the toss that she wanted the batters to be more assertive. They tried their best but every time it looked like they had the measure of the Aussies, some impressive bowling and equally magnificent fielding display by the visitors came India's way.
At the halfway mark, India were 66-4 and at one point looked like they would struggle to cross the 130-mark. But some useful contributions by Deepti Sharma (22, 18b; 2x4) and
Richa Ghosh
(34, 28b; 2x4, 3x6), and some quick runs by Amanjot Kaur (17*, 14b; 2x4) and Pooja Vastrakar (7*, 2b; 1x6) in the end helped India put up a fighting total of 147-6. India scored 47 off the last five overs.
Brief scores: Australia Women 149/3 in 18.4 ovrs (Healy 55, Mooney 52*, Vastrakar 2/26) bt India Women 147/6 in 20 ovrs (Ghosh 34, Mandhana 29, Sutherland 2/12) by 7 wkts with 8 balls remaining.
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