An inspired India have rained on Ellyse Perry’s 350th-game parade, securing a comfortable 17-run victory to seal the T20I leg of the multi-format series in Adelaide.
After Smriti Mandhana (82 from 55) and Jemimah Rodrigues (59 from 46) helped India post 6-176 – the highest total in women’s T20Is at Adelaide Oval – Shreyanka Patil (3-22) and Sree Charani (3-32) restricted to 9-159 despite a fighting 45-ball 57 from Ashleigh Gardner.
Having claimed the T20Is 2-1, India now take a 4-2 lead into the ODI leg of the points-based series, which begins in Brisbane on Tuesday.
The loss is Australia’s first T20I series defeat on home soil since November 2017, in worrying signs for Sophie Molineux’s side just months out from the T20 World Cup.
Patil, the off-spinner recalled after sitting out the second match in Canberra, made an immediate impact with the ball when Georgia Voll (10) miscued a sweep and top-edged a high catch to Renuka Thakur in the second over of Australia’s chase.
When Beth Mooney (6) pulled a Thakur delivery straight down the throat of backward square leg, and Perry (1) was bowled advancing down the wicket to Patil, Australia were 3-32 inside the Powerplay.
Phoebe Litchfield’s bright start was squandered on 26 when she switch-hit a simple catch to Shafali Verma at long on, before Gardner got a slice of luck on 26 when Amanjot Kaur put down a simple return catch.
With Australia 4-78 midway mark still needing 99 off the final 10, neither Georgia Wareham (12 from 14) nor Gardner were finding the acceleration their team sorely needed as the run rate rose above 10 per over.
Gardner’s fifth boundary brought up a 42-ball half-century, her first in T20Is since December 2022.
But when she fell to an outstanding diving grab from Rodrigues with Australia still needing 49 runs from 25 deliveries, and the hard-hitting Grace Harris (1) trod on her own stumps looking to pull Charani an over later, the match drifted out of Australia’s grasp.
A collapse of 4-15 put paid to any hopes of a revival, despite an unbeaten 16-run final-wicket stand from Darcie Brown and Kim Garth reducing the final deficit to 17 runs.
Earlier, the Aussies were put into field first when India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won a third consecutive toss. Local hero Brown made an inauspicious start with the ball, sending down four wides in the opening over of the match.
Garth secured the crucial wicket of Verma (7) in the third over, with the aggressive opener hitting a simple catch to Sutherland at mid-on.
From there, however, the Mandhana-Rodrigues show took over.
Rodrigues arrived in the middle full of intent, picking the gaps and easing the pressure on her more senior teammate, who was finding it more difficult to adapt to her former WBBL home ground.
The pair took India to 1-54 at the end of the Powerplay, before Mandhana found her footing and started to accelerate, hammering an enormous six into the Members’ Stand off Brown to bring up a 39-ball half-century.
Rodrigues was given a life on 43 when Litchfield dropped a tough chance in close, and Mandhana’s third six, this time off Sutherland, saw her move into the eighties.
However, her hopes of a century were dashed when she attempted the same treatment a ball later, but did not connect as well to the back-of-the-hand slower ball, with Gardner taking terrific running catch in the deep, breaking the 121-run second-wicket stand.
At 2-140 in the 17th, Richa Ghosh was promoted as India sought a big finish and she delivered, smacking 18 off seven deliveries.
Australia did reel back in momentum late, however, with just three runs coming off Sutherland’s final over as three wickets fell – however it was not enough to stop India setting a new highest first-innings total in women’s T20Is at Adelaide Oval, bettering England’s 4-169 in 2022.
NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series
India lead the multi-format series 4-2
Australia T20I squad: Sophie Molineux (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Uma Chetry, Arundhati Reddy, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Bharti Fulmali, Shreyanka Patil
February 15: India won by 21 runs (DLS)
February 19: Australia won by 19 runs
February 21: India won by 17 runs
Australia ODI squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India ODI squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Sree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam, Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Uma Chetry, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal
February 24: First ODI, Allan Border Field, Brisbane, 2:50pm AEDT
February 27: Second ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
March 1: Third ODI, Bellerive Oval, Hobart, 2:50pm AEDT
Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare
March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)
