Australia, Oct 9 AUS W vs IND W Live Score: Get the live cricket score updates of women’s international T20I between India Women and Australia Women from the Metricon Stadium in Carrara.
Tahlia McGrath (42* off 33) and opener Beth Mooney (34 off 36) top-scored for Australia in a low-scoring thriller to take their side over the line by six wickets.
Chasing 119, the host was reeling at 46/4. Shikha Pandey removed Alyssa Healy on the second ball of the innings with a searing in-swinger that clipped the latter’s stumps. Skipper Meg Lanning joined Mooney to take the score to 35 before perishing to Gayakwad. Gardner and Perry fell in quick succession as the Indian spinners Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma took control, removing Mooney in the 13th over to dimiss half the side for 71. McGrath then paired with Carey for a 23-run stand before the latter fell to a third stumping off Gayakwad’s bowling, with Australia still needing 25 runs from 20 balls.
However, a determined McGrath prevented further inroad by the Indians while new batter Wareham struck two fours in Pandey’s 18th over, leaving the host 14 runs to get from the last two overs. Some sloppy fielding on the boundary also helped the Australians along the way. McGrath joined the party to hit Renuka for consecutive boundaries in the 19th and level the scores at the end of the over. She fittingly took a single off the first ball of the final over to take the side home.
Put in to bat, India was off to a horrendous start with the top three sent packing with 24 on the board. Two run outs of Yastika Bhatia and Deepti put India in deeper trouble. Pooja Vastrakar’s cameo of 37 off 26 with three fours and two sixes gave the batting a little lift and lead the team to 118/9, giving the bowlers a shot at making a match of it.
However, McGrath’s gritty innings at the end proved too much for the total posted by India, as the host took the match and multi-format series.
With the win, Australia also takes an unassailable 9-5 lead in the multi-format series. Early breakthroughs would have given the Indians a glimmer of hope after posting a modest 118 in 20 overs. However, Mooney and McGrath steadied the innings before the latter held her nerve in the final two overs to give Australia the win.
Source: Sportstar