After the first T20I ended in a no result due to rain, Australia W and India W fought hard in the second, with the hosts coming victorious by four wickets. With this victory, the Aussies have secured a multi-format series with an unassailable lead of 9-5 points with one match to go.
Australian bowlers – especially Tyla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux – did an outstanding job restricting the visitors to 118/9 in 20 overs. Tahlia McGrath was the star with the bat, taking Australia over the line with a brilliant 42* off 33.
As it happened, Meg Lanning won the toss yet again and elected to field first. Unlike the first game, India did not get off to a great start as Smriti Mandhana was caught at midwicket by Nicola Carey off Vlaeminck’s full and fast delivery on one off five.
Her opening Shafali Verma could not do any damage either as she tried to hack a back of a length delivery by Vlaeminck only to pop it to mid-on for three off seven.
Jemimah Rodrigues – the star of the last game – tried to go over the top against Molineux but was caught at mid-on for seven off 13 as India were reduced to 25/3 at the end of the powerplay.
India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur looked good, smashing five boundaries to get the run-rate up. Her knock of 20-ball-28 ended when she charged down the pitch against Georgia Wareham but missed it completely as Healy stumped her.
Yastika Bhatia (8 off 11) was run out in the next over as India’s half the side was dismissed for 52 runs. Richa Ghosh was cleaned up by Carey on 2 off 10 balls. Deepti Sharma, who offered some resistance with 16 off 19, was the next one to go as a victim of another mix-up in running between the wickets. Shikha Pandey (1) and Renuka Singh (1) were clean bowled by the spin duo of Ashleigh Gardner and Molineux, respectively.
With nine wickets down for 81 runs with three overs to go, Pooja Vastrakar turned up big time. She smashed Carey for a six and a four in 18th over while Nicola’s six wides also helped.
In the last over, Vastrakar smashed Hannah Darlington for a six and two fours to give India something to fight for. Vastrakar remained unbeaten on an outstanding 37 off 26 as India reached 118/9. Molineux was the pick of the bowlers for the hosts with 2/11 in four while Vlaeminck picked 2/18 in three.
Chasing a paltry total, Australia Women were shocked by the amount of swing Indian bowlers extracted. Alyssa Healy dispatched the first ball for a boundary but was at the receiving end of arguably the ball of the series on the next.
A back of a length outside off delivery by Shikha Pandey swung back in massively to beat Healy’s inside edge and rattle the off stump. From the other end, Renuka Singh started her international career with a maiden. Both the bowlers were moving the ball exceptionally well, and the pressure was mounting on the hosts as they reached 8/1 in three overs.
Beth Mooney and Lanning found the ropes four times in next three overs to take the score to 33/1 at the end of the powerplay. In the next over, Lanning danced down the track for a big booming drive off Rajeshwari Gayakwad, but enough turn meant that Ghosh completed an easy stumping on 15 off 20.
Captain Kaur brought herself on in the next over and produced a huge wicket as the power-hitter Gardner (one off five) sliced an outside off short delivery straight to point. Ellyse Perry, who became the most capped player for Australia Women, couldn’t do much as she drove a tossed up delivery by Deepti straight to cover on one off five. The hosts were reduced to 46/4 in 9.1 overs and India Women could smell a victory.
Mooney and McGrath added 25 runs for the fifth wicket before Mooney was stumped on 34 off 36 by the Gayakwad-Ghosh combo. McGrath scored three boundaries in the next four overs to bring the equation down to 25 off 21. But another twist in the tail as Carey (7 off 8) was stumped Gayakwad and Ghosh, although this time Ghosh fumbled but the ball hit the stumps.
25 required off the last three overs, Georgia Wareham smashed a couple of fours off Pandey to bring down the target to 14 off 12. McGrath hammered two fours on the first two deliveries of the 19th over to kill the game, as they nudged around for the remaining six runs with five balls to spare. McGrath was adjudged the ‘player of the match’ for her terrific innings.
Brief Scores
India Women – 118/9 in 20 overs (Vastrakar 37*, Kaur 28; Molineux 2/11, Vlaeminck 2/18)
Australia Women – 119/6 in 19.1 overs (McGrath 42*, Mooney 34; Gayakwad 3/21) won by four wickets.
