All-round India script historic WT20I series triumph versus Australia
What's the story
The Indian women's cricket team defeated Australia by 17 runs in the third and deciding WT20I at the Adelaide Oval, securing a 2-1 series win. This victory marked Australia's first T20I series defeat on home soil since November 2017. Smriti Mandhana (82 off 55) and Jemimah Rodrigues (59 off 46) were instrumental in India's innings, helping them post a total of 176/6. Australia could only manage 159/9 in response.
Match details
Australia's chase starts poorly
Mandhana and Rodrigues's partnership helped India set a new record for the highest total in women's T20Is at Adelaide Oval. They added 121 runs for the second wicket. In response, Australia's chase got off to a rocky start with Georgia Voll (10) falling early to Shreyanka Patil. The Australian side lost three wickets inside the Powerplay, including Ellyse Perry (1), who was bowled by Shreyanka Patil after coming down the wicket.
Game shift
A collapse ends the hosts' hopes
Phoebe Litchfield fell for 26, handing a simple catch to Shafali Verma at long on. Ashleigh Gardner brought some hope with her 57-run knock, However, she was dismissed by a brilliant diving catch from Rodrigues with Australia still needing 49 runs from 25 balls. A collapse of four wickets for just 15 runs dashed any hopes of an Australian revival despite an unbeaten last-wicket stand between Darcie Brown and Kim Garth.
Mandhana
Mandhana slams record 8th WT20I fifty against Australia
Mandhana scored a brilliant 82 runs off 55 balls, hitting eight fours and three sixes along the way. With this knock, she raced to 860 WT20I runs versus Australia at an average of 33.07 and a strike rate of 124.27. She has scored eight half-centuries with a best score of 83 runs. No other batter has even six 50-plus scores in this regard.
Information
Here are her overall WT20I stats
Coming to her overall WT20I record, Mandhana has now raced to 4,231 runs from 160 WT20Is (154 innings) at 30.43. Her strike rate is 124.51. As mentioned, this was Mandhana's 33rd WT20I half-century as she also boasts a hundred.
Rodrigues
Rodrigues completes 2,500 WT20I runs with 59 vs Australia
Rodrigues went past the 2,500-run mark in WT20Is during her stay. The batter made a brilliant 46-ball 59 in the game with the help of four fours. She has now raced to 2,551 runs at 30.73 (105 innings). This was her 15th WT20I fifty. Her strike rate reads 117.66. Versus Australia, Rodrigues has amassed 419 runs from 25 matches at 19.04. This was her second fifty against them.
Gardner
57 runs for Gardner
Gardner was the only Aussie batter to score over 30. Her 57 off 45 balls was laced with five fours and a six. Playing her 99th WT20I, she now owns 1,482 runs at an average of 25.11. The tally includes seven fifties and a strike rate of 127.21. 538 of her runs have come against India at 28.31 (50s: 4).
Bowlers
How did the Indian bowlers fare?
India's Shreyanka Patil and Shree Charani claimed three wickets each in their respective four-over spells. While the former conceded just 22 runs, Charani went for 32. Arundhati Reddy also made a couple of strikes to finish with 2/35 from four overs. Renuka Singh Thakur (1/29 from 3 overs) also took a wicket. Meanwhile, Annabel Sutherland was the only Aussie bowler with multiple wickets in the game (2/34 from 4 overs).
History!
India secure historic T20I series win
This is only India's second-ever T20I series win against Australia, with their last victory coming back in 2016 Down Under. Meanwhile, this was also Australia's maiden WT20I series defeat at home since their 2-1 loss against New Zealand in November 2017. Before the series against India, the Women in Yellow had won each of their previous 10 home WT20I series.