India win by 17 runs
India put themselves on the front foot in this multi-format series with a 2-1 win in the T20 series. They batted very well and set a strong total to put the pressure on Australia, setting a very tricky chase for the home team. However, Australia are a team that are capable of chasing big totals, so the bowling also had to be good to secure the win.
Shreyanka Patil was incredibly impressive, taking the wickets of Voll, Perry and Sutherland to halt the chase in its tracks and keep on amping up the pressure for Australia. Aside from Gardner, none of the Australians managed a big score and Litchfield losing her wicket going for the switch hit two balls in a row stands out as a turning point of the match in hindsight.
This T20 series was an opportunity for Molineux to put her stamp on the team as captain and she will be disappointed with how it played out. The field placings did not seem to be working for Australia tonight – countless chances went up in the air and landed in empty grass without a fielder close by. In contrast, Harmanpreet seemed to have her field placed exactly where she wanted it and plenty of catches went to hand – especially early in Australia’s innings when India needed to apply the pressure.
It was a fascinating series within a series and no doubt the next leg (three ODIs) will provide just as much entertainment! But for the T20s, that is all there is – a win for India and disappointment for Australia. The first ODI gets underway on Tuesday in Brisbane – make sure you join us for that one!
Thanks for your company throughout the T20s and I look forward to guiding you through another match very soon.
Player of the Match: Smriti Mandhana
For her superb 82, Smriti is the player of the match tonight and she’s very happy with the effort by the team.
“Beating Australia in Australia is something really special and I’m really glad I could contribute.”
It’s a well deserved honour for a player who was at her calm and controlled best tonight.
20th over: Australia 159-9 (Brown 8, Garth 7)
Deepti comes on to bowl the final over of the match to try to see India home. She starts it very well, only allowing three singles from the first three balls. It will only require fairly sensible bowling to ensure they get the win from here. Brown manages to pick up a boundary, but it’s too little, too late with too many runs to chase. Australia finishes with a single and India celebrate a great win.
19th over: Australia 150-9 (Brown 3, Garth 4)
Arundhati gets a fourth over after two important wickets. Brown tries to give herself plenty of room and picks up a two from a thick inside edge on the second ball of the over. Garth then manages to get herself back on strike with good backing up from the non-striker’s end and keeps the strike with a well run two. But she can’t find many more runs in the over and it’s set up a very tough final over for the home team.
18th over: Australia 144-9 (Brown 1, Garth 1)
Shreyanka comes back to bowl her final over and Sutherland starts it aggressively with a four past deep cover. Australia have done a good job at getting early boundaries each over, but India have managed to fight back after tough starts to many of their overs. Shreyanka removes Sutherland to get her fourth wicket and Australia are now relying on their 10 and 11 to get them over the line.
WICKET! Sutherland lbw Shreyanka 14 (Australia 143-9)
Sutherland has to try to go big on as many balls as possible and she gets down to reverse sweep this one and misses it. It thumps into her pads and a review can’t save her, she has to go.
17th over: Australia 137-8 (Sutherland 9, Garth 0)
Harris is on strike to start Charani’s final over and she leaves the first ball, which is a good decision as it’s given a wide. But next ball she gets too deep in her crease and stands on her stumps while smashing a ball for four. Molineux comes in and manages to hit one for four without standing on her stumps, which is good innovation from the captain. There’s another wide and then a big lbw appeal and a long discussion about whether they will review it, but they opt not to. A run out attempt following a misfield on the next ball and it seems like this over has everything. And it truly does when Molineux is out lbw next ball.
WICKET! Molineux lbw Charani 6 (Australia 137-8)
Molineux reviews this one fairly confidently, but that might just be because they’ve got reviews in hand and not many batters in the shed. She’s out, although the impact is umpire’s call, so they hold on to the review at least.
WICKET! Harris hit wicket b Charani 1 (Australia 130-7)
Harris smashed the ball for four, but in doing so, she steps on her stumps and she has to go with a lot of work still to be done for Australia.
16th over: Australia 129-6 (Sutherland 9, Harris 1)
Gardner starts this over with a boundary as well, guiding one around the corner for four from Arundhati’s bowling, and brings up her 50. She does the same thing next ball and is really putting the pressure back on Arundhati and India. Sutherland tries to go big as well, but only manages a single. That brings Gardner back on strike and she can’t keep up the big hitting and is dismissed, bringing Harris to the crease.
WICKET! Gardner c Jemimah b Arundhati 57 (Australia 128-6)
Just as Gardner is really looking like she will bring Australia home, the pressure of the need to maintain an extremely high strike rate brings her undone and Jemimah takes a sensational diving catch to send her on her way.
15th over: Australia 118-5 (Sutherland 8, Gardner 48)
Gardner knows it’s time to really start making a dent in that required run rate and she starts Charani’s over with a six over deep midwicket. Charani recovers with a dot and a one to bring Sutherland on strike still early in her innings. But she’s clearly feeling confident already, reverse sweeping for four – a shot we don’t see all that often from her.
14th over: Australia 105-5 (Sutherland 3, Gardner 40)
Shreyanka has been the pick of the bowlers tonight and Harmanpreet turns to her now to really turn the screws on Australia. She nearly gets her third wicket, but Renuka drops a simple catch to give her a life. It’s another good over for Shreyanka, despite the missed catch opportunity.
13th over: Australia 98-5 (Sutherland 0, Gardner 36)
Arundhati gets her second over and just like last over, it starts with a two and a four, but this time it’s Gardner scoring. Good signs for Australia with both batters scoring fairly freely and managing boundaries early in the over to alleviate some of the pressure of the run chase. However no sooner do I say that than Wareham is out and they have to rebuild again.
WICKET! Wareham c Amanjot b Arundhati 12 (Australia 98-5)
Wareham had just started to find some momentum, but she’s undone by a full toss that she swings wildly at and Amanjot juggles and then takes the catch.
12th over: Australia 89-4 (Wareham 11, Gardner 28)
Wareham starts Deepti’s over positively, splitting the fielders and running strongly for a two and then gets down for a sweep shot and finds her first boundary. Deepti tightens up her length and closes out the over well after an expensive start.
11th over: Australia 81-4 (Wareham 4, Gardner 27)
Another over from Charani and Wareham gets some strike to see what she can do at number 6. It’s fairly bold to put her in ahead of Sutherland and Harris, but perhaps she can show tonight exactly why she’s there. Charani nearly gets a run out of Gardner from a return shot, but can’t control the ball.
10th over: Australia 78-4 (Wareham 2, Gardner 26)
Amanjot bowls her first over of the match and Gardner starts it with a four. Rain is starting to fall in Adelaide now – we’ll see if it becomes heavy enough to halt the match at all, but for now they play on, with Australia behind on DLS. Amanjot then drops a simple caught and bowled chance to finish the over. Drinks are on the field now.
9th over: Australia 67-4 (Wareham 1, Gardner 18)
Charani bowls her first over of the night and Litchfield switch hits her for four, then tries it again and loses her wicket. Wareham comes to the crease and immediately does better than her Canberra diamond duck with a single. Gardner mistimes one, but it lands between fielders – another little let off for her.
WICKET! Litchfield c Shafali b Charani 26 (Australia 63-4)
Litchfield goes for one too many switch hits, catches her bat on the ground, which takes the power out of the shot and sends up a simple catch for Shafali.
8th over: Australia 59-3 (Litchfield 22, Gardner 15)
Litchfield faces up to Deepti, looking to build into her innings. She pulls out the reverse sweep again , but she can only get one run from it to bring Gardner back on strike. Gardner rotates the strike and Litchfield goes for a traditional sweep, top edges it, but it lands safely. She then pulls out the switch hit – this is a real bouquet of shots from Litchfield in this over!
7th over: Australia 54-3 (Litchfield 19, Gardner 14)
Arundhati bowls her first over of the evening and there’s a big appeal for lbw on Gardner from the first ball of the over. The umpire isn’t interested, but India decide to review. It turns out the umpire was correct though and India lose a review. Gardner flicks one down to deep backward square for two, then puts a catching chance up in the air, but as we’ve seen so often tonight, it falls safely between fielders. She makes the most of her luck and drives the next ball for four – she’s starting to find some runs now.
6th over: Australia 44-3 (Litchfield 18, Gardner 5)
Deepti comes into the attack for the first time and Gardner again finds herself trapped on strike and unable to do much about it. Eventually she manages to chip one up and over the infield to get a single and get Litchfield on strike. Immediately, she can find more gaps in the field, with a well run two and then a reverse sweep for four.
5th over: Australia 37-3 (Litchfield 12, Gardner 4)
Renuka bowls her third over on the trot and dots up Gardner from the first four balls. She breaks her run of dots with a wide, but it doesn’t ease the frustration from Gardner who desperately wants to feel some bat on ball. The next ball is another dot and her frustration grows. Finally she finds what she’s looking for on the last ball of the over, with a shot that pierces the gap through covers and they run a good three.
Updated
4th over: Australia 33-3 (Litchfield 12, Gardner 1)
Litchfield gets straight into action at the start of Shreyanka’s second over with a drive past long off for four. She gets Perry back on strike and Shreyanka removes her – she almost appeals after clean bowling her, so shocked is she that she’s taken down this superstar. Gardner comes to the crease with a mountain of work to do for Australia.
WICKET! Perry b Shreyanka 1 (Australia 32-3)
There won’t be a a fairytale for Perry tonight, deceived by Shreyanka’s spin and clean bowled.
Updated
3rd over: Australia 27-2 (Litchfield 7, Perry 1)
Harmanpreet keeps the faith in Renuka after a poor first over and brings her back for a second in a move that immediately pays off when she gets Mooney’s wicket. This brings Perry to the crease in her 350th game – what fairytale can she weave tonight? Litchfield gets things moving with a boundary to relieve some pressure.
WICKET! Mooney c Charani b Renuka 6 (Australia 21-2)
A great recovery from Renuka lures Mooney into a big pull shot, that falls straight into Charani’s waiting hands.
Updated
2nd over: Australia 20-1 (Litchfield 1, Mooney 6)
Shreyanka takes the new ball from the other end with her off spin. She’s almost immediately successful, taking Voll’s wicket. She’ll be very happy with that, after sitting out the second match. Litchfield starts cautiously, seeing off two dots and then she manages to rotate the strike to get Mooney back in the action. There’s a big appeal on Mooney, but it’s pretty clearly not out and Richa manages to talk her teammates out of burning a review.
WICKET! Voll c Renuka b Shreyanka 10 (Australia 19-1)
Voll can’t replicate her big score from Canberra, edging one from Shreyanka straight up in the air for a straightforward catch from Renuka.
1st over: Australia 18-0 (Voll 10, Mooney 5)
Renuka takes the new ball for India and Voll immediately shapes for a ramp, but can’t get bat on ball. It doesn’t bother her though, as next ball she drives it straight back over the bowler’s head for six. Renuka follows Brown’s lead with a few wides thrown into her first over and eventually Mooney gets her first look at the bowling and hits her first ball for four. It’s a very expensive over from Renuka to start the innings!
The players are back on the field and the run chase is about to begin!
I’ve received an email from Rhonda Boag who is unimpressed with the television commentary, particularly some comments from a male commentator who she doesn’t feel is treating the game and the players with the professionalism and respect they deserve. I don’t have a male commentator on the broadcast I’m following, so I can’t comment on that, but I hope you have a more pleasant viewing experience in the second innings Rhonda!
India 176-6
A strong batting performance from India, despite the loss of some late wickets. Especially impressive innings from Smriti and Jemimah, who both scored half centuries at strike rates above 125.
Australia lost their way with their bowling through the middle of the innings, but reeled it back in with some late wickets. Sutherland was once again the pick of the bowlers, despite being hit for more boundaries than she was in Canberra.
It’s an excellent total from India that will take some chasing, but Australia are a team that is capable of chasing down big totals – especially fuelled by the desire to get a win for Perry in her 350th game. India need to replicate their bowling performance from Sydney that brought Australia undone – if they give them a sniff, they’ll run with it and give themselves a chance to run it down.
It’s sure to be an exciting chase coming up, so stay with me as I take you through it!
20th over: India 176-6 (Harmanpreet 2)
Sutherland gets the final over for Australia and she catches Harmanpreet off guard and the first ball is a dot, but next ball she finds some space with a sweep and manages to get Jemimah on strike. However, all Jemimah can do is hit it straight Perry. Amanjot gets a single, but then is run out and Deepti faces the final ball of the match and is run out coming back for two.
WICKET! Deepti run out (Perry, Mooney) 1 (India 176-6)
Deepti edges it up in the air, it falls safely, but Perry has a great arm and gets it in for a simple run out with Deepti trying to come back for two.
WICKET! Amanjot run out (Mooney) 1 (India 175-5)
A mix up between the batters and Mooney takes a few steps to knock the bails off for the run out.
Updated
WICKET! Jemimah c Perry b Sutherland 59 (India 174-4)
Sutherland gets the set batter in the final over, luring her into her a drive that flies straight to Perry for a nice catch at mid-off.
Updated
19th over: India 173-3 (Harmanpreet 1, Jemimah 59)
Molineux is back for her final over and the first ball almost turns Wareham inside out on the boundary, but she recovers and cuts it off to restrict them to two. Molineux is trying all the tricks to follow the batters wide and it’s succeeding so far in stopping the boundaries. Jemimah tries another cheeky ramp, but it can only get her one run and then Molineux gets Richa. Jemimah brings back some momentum for India with a great drive for four from the last ball of the over.
WICKET! Richa c Voll b Molineux 18 (India 168-3)
Molineux gets the breakthrough she was after, with Richa committed to attacking cricket. She mistimes a cut shot and the ball flies into Voll’s waiting hands.
18th over: India 163-2 (Richa 18, Jemimah 50)
Gardner bowls her final over of the match and Richa gets herself on strike and immediately reverse sweeps her for four – she has done a great job of coming in late in the innings and attacking from the start. Jemimah brings up her 50 midway through the over with a deft little single. A good over for India to up their score close to the end of their innings.
17th over: India 150-2 (Richa 7, Jemimah 48)
Smriti starts Sutherland’s third over by absolutely pummelling her for a six, but Sutherland has the last laugh, taking her wicket next ball with her patented back of the hand slower ball. Richa comes out and does the smart thing, immediately getting the set batter Jemimah on strike. From the last ball of the over, Richa gets into her innings with her first boundary down the ground, bookending the over with sixes.
WICKET! Smriti c Gardner b Sutherland 82 (India 140-2)
Finally Sutherland gets the breakthrough with Smriti upping the aggression. She smacks it down the ground and Gardner runs across with great speed to make a tough catch look simple.
16th over: India 134-1 (Smriti 76, Jemimah 45)
Another over from Garth, as this partnership is on 108 from 74 balls and she has been the only one to take a wicket so far tonight. But Smriti isn’t intimidated and pulls the first ball past deep backward square for four. Garth recovers well and gets Jemimah a bit impatient and she gets into position early for a ramp, but she can only manage one run from it.
15th over: India 127-1 (Smriti 70, Jemimah 44)
Molineux brings herself back after a better second over and it nearly pays off very quickly with a catching opportunity, but it falls short of Litchfield. Jemimah then almost gives her wicket away, her hand falling off the bat and mistiming it, but it goes over the heads of the fielders. And then the next ball it’s a dropped catch from Litchfield – it would have been sensational if she’d got to it, but it was a chance nonetheless.
14th over: India 121-1 (Smriti 68, Jemimah 40)
Gardner comes back for her third over, with Australia desperate to take a wicket and break this partnership. But Smriti cannot be stopped at the moment, with a hige slog sweep for her second six of the night. Gardner isn’t fazed and tightens up her length to only allow singles from the remainder of the over.
13th over: India 110-1 (Smriti 60, Jemimah 37)
Wareham returns and there’s a run out chance on the first ball as the batters come back for a second, but Jemimah’s desperate slide gets her home safely. Smriti has really got into her rhythm now and a beautiful straight drive back over Wareham’s head gives her another four. Jemimah pulls out the reverse and misses, but Mooney can’t collect it fast enough to stump her.
12th over: India 101-1 (Smriti 55, Jemimah 33)
Brown returns for her third over and Jemimah ups her aggression immediately, but can’t time it well enough to get more than a single. Smriti has more luck attacking, pulling the next ball for a massive six – the first of the innings for India, bringing up her 50. Brown tightens her length and manages to avoid being hit for another boundary in the over, but it’s still an expensive over and India brings up their 100.
11th over: India 90-1 (Smriti 46, Jemimah 31)
Molineux brings herself back, looking for a tighter over than the last one she bowled. Midway through the over there’s a chance of a catch from a diving Brown, but it’s just out of her reach. A much improved over from the captain, only four runs from it.
10th over: India 86-1 (Smriti 44, Jemimah 29)
Another over from Sutherland and she catches an edge from Smriti early in the over, but it falls short of Mooney. Emboldened, she sweeps for four next ball, then defends one solidly before Sutherland gets her edging again, but once again it falls safely. Drinks are on the field now.
9th over: India 77-1 (Smriti 33, Jemimah 28)
Our first over of leg spin tonight – Wareham had a real struggle in Canberra the other night and only bowled one over, so she’ll be looking for a stronger performance tonight. Smriti and Jemimah start the over watchfully, taking a single each, but then Jemimah picks up the pace and turn of the ball and pulls it past deep midwicket for four. Smriti tries to send one straight down the ground, but some great fielding from Perry on the boundary saves another four.
8th over: India 67-1 (Smriti 32, Jemimah 22)
Brown returns for her second over after she struggled to find her line in the first over of the match. She’s bowling from the other end now, so she’ll be hoping she can find her rhythm there. It’s a good start to the over with a one and a dot, but when Brown throws in the bouncer, Smriti is very happy to cut it smoothly past third for a four. All up though, it’s a better over from Brown.
7th over: India 60-1 (Smriti 27, Jemimah 20)
Sutherland comes into the attack for the first over after the powerplay after a very good four overs in Canberra. She starts well, with a dot, two and one and then she thinks she has Jemimah trapped lbw, but she’s got an under edge on it that saves her.
6th over: India 54-1 (Smriti 24, Jemimah 17)
Molineux brings herself into the attack and immediately Jemimah sweeps her for four. A single brings Smriti on strike, but she wants a piece of the sweeping action as well and sweeps Molineux for four as well. A third four from the over and suddenly this is a very expensive one for the Australians – 14 from it to end the powerplay.
5th over: India 40-1 (Smriti 15, Jemimah 12)
Garth returns for a second over after a successful first over from her. Jemimah immediately attacks and chips one over the infield for two before a lovely sweep behind her that evades Harris and flies to the boundary. Garth tightens up her line and slows the scoring rate and then catching Smriti’s edge, but with the field up for the powerplay, there isn’t a fielder close enough to get to it.
4th over: India 31-1 (Smriti 13, Jemimah 5)
A big appeal on the first ball of the over and there’s a long chat about whether they’ll appeal. Molineux pulls out the DRS signal right on the final second, which is becoming a trademark move for her! However, the review reveals Smriti got bat on the ball and not pad and they lose the review. Then there’s a catching opportunity, but Perry can’t quite hang on. Finally Smriti gets one away for four – it’s all happening this over!
Updated
3rd over: India 23-1 (Smriti 6, Jemimah 4)
Kim Garth replaces Brown after that less than ideal first over. A good call from Molineux to give Brown some time to sit back and watch the game and prepare to adjust her lines and lengths. Garth starts well, but Shafali sees one she likes on the third ball of the over and pounces, pulling it past fine leg for four. However, Garth retaliates next ball with the wicket. Jemimah gets off the mark with a two straight away, followed by another to close out the over.
WICKET! Shafali c Sutherland b Garth 7 (India 19-1)
Garth gets the breakthrough, luring Shafali into one too many aggressive shots and it’s straight up in the air. Sutherland has to navigate Perry in her vicinity but makes the early call and takes the catch.
2nd over: India 14-0 (Smriti 5, Shafali 3)
Gardner comes in for the second over to open from the other end. Shafali attacks immediately, coming down the pitch and attempts to drive it back over Gardner’s head, but the ball catches the edge instead. It falls safely, just past Litchfield and Shafali is off the mark. It’s a fairly tight over from Gardner, just four runs from it.
1st over: India 10-0 (Smriti 4, Shafali 0)
Not the best start for Darcie Brown with new ball in hand, a wide from the first ball, two wides from the second and another wide from the third – maybe some nerves opening the bowling in front of a home crowd. Finally she gets a legal delivery away and it’s leg byes, before yet another wide. The first runs scored from the bat come via a beautiful four from Smriti and finally after 10 balls, the first over is complete.
The teams are on the field now and the first ball is coming up very soon!
Don’t forget if you have any thoughts to share on tonight’s match, you can send me an email – the details are at the top of the page. I’ll do my best to include your emails in the blog where I can. You can also tell me about your own game this weekend if you like – I’ve just returned from scoring a match for the mighty Summer Hill CC U13 Girls, who had a 59-run win in their T20 match today, so I’d love to hear about your day in the field as well!
If you want a bit of a refresher on the last match before this one begins, you can peruse the blog from the other night – we’ve still got some time for you to catch up before the first ball!
One change each for the sides – for India, it’s Shreyanka Patil who comes back into the side after playing game one and missing game two, with Kranti Gaud out tonight. For Australia, we get our first look at Grace Harris for this series, coming in to replace Nicola Carey, who has not bowled as many overs as we would have expected. It will be interesting to see if Harris’s off spin is deployed much in this match, or whether she is simply in as a late order hitter noting that runs have been hard to come by at the end of both of Australia’s innings so far.
India XI
1. Shafali Verma
2. Smriti Mandhana
3. Jemimah Rodrigues
4. Harmanpreet Kaur
5. Richa Ghosh
6. Amanjot Kaur
7. Deepti Sharma
8. Arundhati Reddy
9. Shreyanka Patil
10. Sree Charani
11. Renuka Singh Thakur
Australia XI
1. Beth Mooney (wk)
2. Georgia Voll
3. Phoebe Litchfield
4. Ellyse Perry
5. Ash Gardner
6. Georgia Wareham
7. Annabel Sutherland
8. Grace Harris
9. Sophie Molineux
10. Kim Garth
11. Darcie Brown
India wins the toss and elects to bat
India have decided to have a bat – captain Harmanpreet Kaur thinks the Adelaide pitch looks good for batting and she wants to put a good total on the board. Australia captain Sophie Molineux says they were going to bowl anyway, so she’s happy with the call!
Preamble
Here we are, all tied up in the T20 series within a series – both Australia and India with one win apiece. India made the most of the rain affected conditions in the first match, bowling Australia out short of their 20 overs and then racing to 1-50 before the rain hit to secure a comfortable win on DLS. Australia showed plenty of fight to turn things around in Canberra, led by a determined Georgia Voll 88 and very tight bowling from Annabel Sutherland when the pressure was on. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got India off to a flying start with the bat, but once Shafali was out, the runs stalled. A strong middle order partnership between Harmanpreet Kaur and Richa Ghosh wasn’t enough to get them across the line and Australia took the win by 19 runs.
Tonight’s match will be an emotional one for the Australians, with Ellyse Perry bringing up 350 international matches across all three formats. She becomes the first Australian woman and third overall to reach that milestone. A much-loved figure in the dressing room, the team will be desperate for a win and a strong performance to celebrate Perry’s big game in style.
With the same playing 11 in both matches for Australia and just one change for India, it will be interesting to see if there are any changes for tonight’s match. Tahlia McGrath, Grace Harris and Megan Schutt have all yet to play for Australia, while India has Vaishnavi Sharma, Uma Chetry and Bharti Fulmali waiting in the wings.
The toss is imminent, so let’s get into it and find out how they’ll line up tonight!
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