Alyssa Healy scored a 38-ball 55 in her 150th T20I appearance to help Australia come from behind to win the series 2-1. Her first strike gave Australia a commanding lead at the 10-over mark, while fellow opener Beth Mooney finished the job with her first fifty on tour. Chasing 148 with seven wickets and eight balls to go, Australia completed a white-ball double on this tour after losing the one-off Test. India's 147 for six for India was the highest total for the three matches in the T20I series, but more runs were needed as the due factor was noticeable in the second innings.
Shafali Verma led the way with 26 off 17 balls, while Richa Ghosh gave momentum to the batting line with 34 off 28 balls at the time of the death overs. But Annabelle Sutherland's 2-for-12 and Georgia Wareham's 2-for-24 in four overs each had a big impact in the end.
India lost the wickets very quickly as they were at 60 for 1 to 64 for 4. Shafali gave India a strong start following the Australian defense and showed her mettle from the first over by hitting Megan Schutt with her four. Kim Garth then bowled three full-length balls in four overs and Shafali also hit all of them for boundaries. Shafali added a sixth four to her tally by flicking over her head in the next over but was out on the next ball and was caught behind while chasing an outswinger.
Shafali's early goal slowly gave Smriti Mandhana the lead, but she scored just eight runs from her first 11 balls, She took on the role of attacker after her partner's dismissal. She slammed Ashley Gardner a six and a four to end the power play, 1-for-51.
This takes the score to 60 for one, but then three of the senior Indian batsmen fall in quick succession. Jemima Rodriguez tried a pull shot against Sutherland in the eighth over but was caught deep and was able to score only 2 runs. Mandhana then risked overwhelming Wareham despite having two outfielders on the leg side, resulting in her dismissal for 29 runs. Harmanpreet Kaur's poor form with the bat continued as she chipped while driving Sutherland's cleverly concealed slow ball.
Ghosh leads the chase at the bottom, Wareham and Sutherland torment India as Deepti Sharma and Ghosh look to lead a rebuild of 66 for 4 in 10 overs. The pair scored 33 in 4.5 overs as they made quick runs with occasional boundaries. Deepti tried to hit Wareham at long-on and was out and that broke the partnership.
Shreya Ghosh hit for six and four off Schutt in the 16th over and hit a huge six off Wareham in the 17th over, causing unusable damage to the ball. Finally, it was Gardner who dismissed Ghosh for 34 off 28 balls in the final over. At this point, India reached their highest score of the series, scoring 147 points off Pooja Vastrakar's sixth shot from the last ball.
After a cautious start, Healy quickly changed gears and hit Titus Sadhu for three fours off three legal balls in the fourth over. She hit Renuka Singh for 6, 4, 4 in the fifth over, one better and by the end of the powerplay, Australia was 54 for no loss.
Harmanpreet then looked to Vastrakar for a breakthrough and she seemed to have it right away when Healy hit a full ball to Rodriguez at point. However, the television umpire decided there was no conclusive evidence that it was a clean catch. Healy continued, and she reached 50 for the 16th T20I fifty down the leg side in the ninth over, but soon her wicket was taken down by Deepti.
Talia McGrath did not allow Australia's momentum to break by hitting four fours in the first ten balls she played. Vastrakar had McGrath and Ellyse Perry dismissed in consecutive deliveries in the 16th over, but the presence of already set Mooney at one end ensured Australia always had the lead. With Phoebe Litchfield remaining in the 17th over, Mooney hit consecutive fours in the 19th over to reach her half-century and took Australia to the winning side of the match.
The last time India won a T20I series decider was in 2011, and the hopes continue.
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