India women collapsed from 106/2 to 123/6 inside three overs as they failed to chase 173 against Australia at Brabourne Stadium on Wednesday.
Captain Harmanpreet Kaur felt that playing too many dot balls was the reason they lost to Australia in the third T20 international on Wednesday. Chasing 173, India played 55 dot balls as they fell 21 runs short of the target and conceded 2-1 lead to the visitors at Brabourne Stadium.
“After getting them on 170-odd runs, we really thought we can chase this total. We played too many dot balls in the middle. After getting a boundary, our plan was to rotate strike but it didn’t happen,”
she said in post-match interview.
Kaur added 73 runs for the third wicket with Shafali Verma to put India in a strong position, with 67 off 40 required. But then Verma, who made 52 off 41, was dismissed and a collapse followed. The women in Blue lost four wickets in the next 17 balls, including Kaur and previous game’s hero Richa Ghosh.
“Shafali or myself – we had in mind one of us needs to play till the end. But we have a long batting lineup now and can play freely. So we can go for our shots. Don’t really need one of us to play till the end.”
Kaur was impressed with the way Anjali Sarvani and Devika Vaidya bowled against a strong Australia batting line-up. Sarvani took 2 for 34 off four overs while Vaidya bagged 2 for 22 in three overs. Australia, having lost captain Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath in the first two overs, kept the intent high. Ellyse Perry smashed 75 off 47 whereas Grace Harris hammered 41 off 18.
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Darcie Brown proved to be a point of difference as she bowled nine wides in the first over, but dismissed Smriti Mandhana for 1 off 11 and trapped Jemimah Rodrigues for 16 off 11 inside the powerplay.
With the series scoreline reading 2-1 in Australia’s favour, India will take on the world champions in the fourth T20I at the same venue on December 17.
