Chandigarh: The Indian women’s cricket team is riding a golden wave. Fresh from their historic Women’s ODI World Cup triumph, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side continues to take big steps in world cricket. On Saturday, the Indian women’s cricket team scripted another memorable chapter on Australian soil.
Brimming with belief and intent, India registered a 17-run win in the third T20I at the Adelaide Oval to seal the three-match series and take a 4-2 lead in the multi-format contest. The victory not only underlined India’s growing stature in the shortest format but also marked only their second bilateral T20I series triumph in Australia, after a decade. The last came in 2016 under Mithali Raj’s captaincy.
Having recently swept Sri Lanka 5-0 at home following their ODI World Cup success in November, India outplayed Australia in their own backyard, leaving their fans stunned. It was Australia’s first bilateral series defeat at home since 2017.
Smriti Mandhana (82 off 55 balls) laid the foundation for the triumph with a magnificent 121-run partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues (59 off 46). The duo steadied the innings after Shafali Verma’s dismissal for seven runs in the third over, and then launched a calculated assault on the Australian bowling. Smriti was in sublime touch, hitting eight fours and three sixes. Jemimah complemented her with fluent stroke play, finding the fence four times.
Smriti fell in the 17th over with the score at 140, Ash Gardner taking a running catch at midwicket after she skied a slow delivery from Annabel Sutherland. However, India pressed the accelerator, promoting Richa Ghosh ahead of Harmanpreet. Richa’s 18 off seven balls provided the late flourish India needed to post a competitive 176/6.
Australia had a tough task on hand as they began their run chase. They had never chased down a higher target. Their best was chasing down 173 runs in a nine-wicket win over India at Mumbai in December 2022.
Australia’s chase never quite gathered momentum against India’s disciplined bowling attack. Shreyanka Patil struck twice in the Powerplay to remove Georgia Voll and Ellyse Perry while Renuka Thakur dismissed Beth Mooney, reducing the hosts to 32/2 and tilting the contest India’s way in the Powerplay. Phoebe Litchfield’s 26, laced with her trademark reverse sweeps, briefly kept the hosts afloat, but left-arm spinner Shree Charani’s breakthrough left Australia reeling at 63/4.
Ashleigh Gardner fought valiantly with by top-scoring with 57 (45b, 5×4, 1×6), briefly reviving hopes, but Rodrigues’ sharp catch at deep midwicket off Charani’s bowling ended the resistance. Grace Harris was hit wicket second ball, summing up Australia’s frustrating evening as they were restricted to 159/9. Arundhati Reddy took 2/35.
Smriti, who was declared Player of the Match, said: “It feels great to contribute to a series win. Beating Australia in Australia is really special. Jemi’s quick boundaries when she came in settled me down and helped build the partnership.”
Harman credited the victory to a collective effort. “It was a complete team performance. Everyone was positive. Smriti and Jemi played a big role. The bowling plans were very simple. It was only about taking wickets. The bowlers did a great job for us,” she said.
Australia skipper Sophie Molinuex said: “We actually thought we kept them to a pretty good score. It was a pretty good wicket. We just lost some pretty important wickets at the wrong time.”
India won the first T20I in Sydney by 21 runs under the DLS rain rule while Australia won the second game in Canberra by 19 runs.
India will now turn their focus to the upcoming three-match ODI series, starting on Tuesday with the first game in Brisbane, hoping to carry forward the momentum.
Brief scores: India 176/6 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 82, Jemimah Rodrigues 59; Annabel Sutherland 2/34); Australia 159/9 (Ashleigh Gardner 57, Phoebe Litchfield 26; Shreyanka Patil 3/22, Shree Charani 3/32). India won by 17 runs.
