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The India women's cricket team were unable to finish their home series against Australia on a high after suffering a 54-run loss at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, December 20. Chasing 196 for the win, Deepti Sharma brought the Indian batters back into the game with a 53 off 34 balls but did not get any help from her teammates as their side wrapped up the series with a 4-1 loss.
After a sub-par bowling performance, the Indian batters started their innings on a slow note. Smriti Mandhana was the first to depart for just four runs off as many balls. Soon to follow was Shafali Varma for just 13 runs, as the Indian batters succumbed under the pressure of the Australian bowling unit.
The Australians did not allow their opponent batters to settle into the crease as well, as wickets fell at regular intervals to put pressure on the Women in Blue. Harleen Deol (24 off 16), Harmanpreet Kaur (12 off 11) and Richa Ghosh (10 off 9) were all dismissed cheaply, but then came Deepti, who brought a semblance of hope to their side.
Deepti displayed the attacking tenacity that she is known for, and smashed eight fours and a six in her innings, but it was a one-woman army as the wickets continued to fall around them. Eventually, Australia, led by the graceful Ashleigh Gardner and Heather Graham, wrapped up their innings for 142 runs.
Graham bagged an unusual hat-trick in her own right, after getting the wickets of Devika (11 off 14) and Radha Yadav (Golden Duck) in the last balls of the 13th over. Then, the right-arm medium pacer came back in the 20th over to get the wicket of Renuka Singh off the first ball of the last over of the match to complete her hat-trick.
Harmanpreet entered the game with an extra bowler, but this move did not pay off in either innings. They got the important wickets of openers Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield early in the powerplay, and soon followed was the wicket of stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath. The Australian batters were 55 for 3 in eight overs, when middle-order stars Gardner and Grace Harris turned the tide for the visitors.
Harris and Gardner set up a partnership of 129 runs that remained unbeaten till the end of their innings, Harris scored her fifty in just 28 balls with a six off Renuka Singh in the 18th over and then a ball later Gardner also completed the feat in just 25 balls, and with a boundary as well.
Among the Indian bowlers, Vaidya turned out to be the most economical for India with figures of 1/26 from her three overs.
