As Australia crushed India by 54 runs on Tuesday at the Brabourne Stadium to win the series 4-1, Ashleigh Gardner put on another all-around performance, and Grace Harris kept up her spectacular big-hitting ways.
India’s batting order collapsed for 142 after Gardner and Harris led the hosts to a series-high 196 for 4, and Heather Graham claimed a hat-trick in just her third T20I for the national side. At a juncture when a more humiliating defeat was certain, Deepti Sharma struck a crucial half-century to lead India to a respectable score.
India did well with the ball early on, sending both of Australia’s openers back into the pavilion during a powerplay that also saw Renuka Singh bowl a maiden over against Tahlia McGrath. The hosts’ expectations were dashed, though, like in every game in this series, by a strong partnership that took the game away from them. Harris and Gardner who took the attack to the Indian bowlers, scoring a combined 129 runs off of 62 deliveries for the fifth wicket.
Australia’s inning went into top gear when Gardner smash Anjali Sarvani for four consecutive boundaries, in an indication of what was to follow. In the final eight overs, the Aussies scored 112 runs, including the 19 runs off the Indian bowler.
Chasing a massive 197, India got off to a terrible start when Smriti Mandhana directed a harmless Darcie Brown delivery straight to Harris at forward square leg in the opening over. The hosts, who were having trouble picking up the pace, quickly lost Shafali in the fifth over when Gardner tempted her with an outside off delivery, which she smacked straight to Annabel Sutherland in long-on.
Harleen Deol’s 16-ball 24 was cut short by a mix-up with Harmanpreet Kaur, as India lost wickets at regular intervals after that run-out. Sutherland then trapped Harmanpreet in front of the stumps before Gardner followed up with the dismissal of the hard-hitting Richa Ghosh in the 10th over, leaving the hosts reeling at 70 for 5.
Gardner concluded with numbers of 2 for 20, to top off another magnificent all-around performance that saw her receive both the PotM and PotT awards as Australia won the series 4-1.
