Ellyse Perry had to warm the bench for the entire leg of the Ashes in January this year. With the team opting for aggressive power hitters, she was sidelined for the Commonwealth Games as well.
While those omissions led to questions about her future, the sudden retirement of Rachael Haynes seems to have opened new doors for Perry. Making the most of the opportunities, the seasoned campaigner once again stamped her class with a 75 off 47 deliveries on Wednesday as Australia recovered from early jolts to post 172-8 at the Brabourne Stadium, and eventually handed India a 21-run defeat in the third women’s T20I.
Opting to field after winning the toss, India started positively as Renuka Singh Thakur struck on the fourth ball of the first over, trapping Australia captain Alyssa Healy leg before for a solitary run. Even before the touring side could bounce back, youngster Anjali Sarvani cleaned up Tahlia McGrath in the next over, reducing the Australian outfit to 5-2 in the second over.
As about 15,000 fans cheered for the Indian bowlers, Australia slowly rebuilt with Perry’s 64-run partnership with Beth Mooney for the third wicket. Starting cautiously, Perry slammed a couple of fours off Deepti Sharma to take her team to 43 for two in the Powerplay. With Perry and in-form Mooney slowly taking control of the game, India soon found itself in a spot of bother. But the two sailed smoothly, guiding the team to 68 for two in eight overs before Devika Vaidya broke the partnership by dismissing Mooney.
But even after her dismissal, Perry built another quickfire 55-run stand for the fifth wicket with Grace Harris (41 off 18) ensuring a steady total on the board for Australia. While Perry kept the scoreboard ticking, Harris struck a couple of sixes in the 16th over, bowled by Rajeshwari Gayakwad, to put the pressure on the Indian bowlers. Even though Sarvani dismissed Perry soon, Harris hit a flurry of boundaries on a surface that aided the batters, before falling to Renuka. But by then, Australia was firmly in control of the game.
Chasing a tall total, India did not have the best of starts as it lost Smriti Mandhana early on. Failing to build on the momentum from the previous game, Smriti could just score a solitary run before falling to Darcie Brown, who returned to the playing XI after missing out on the first two games due to illness.
However, with Shafali Verma (52, 41b, 6x4, 3x6) at the crease, Jemimah Rodrigues started aggressively, hitting three fours off Annabel Sutherland’s opening over. Just when it looked India was back in the game, Brown claimed her second wicket by trapping Jemimah leg before.
India was two wickets down for 33 in five overs before Shafali took control of the game by picking up 12 runs off Nicola Carey’s first over. In the next over, bowled by Gardner, she hit a six, while Harmanpreet slammed a boundary to put the pressure back on Australia. Making the most of a reprieve when she was on 13, Shafali went on a rampage and put India in a comfortable position with 95 for two in 13 overs.
Shafali got another lifeline on 48 when Brown’s outside off delivery forced her to offer a catch to Tahlia McGrath at extra cover. But replays revealed that Brown had overstepped.
While Shafali went on to score her half-century before falling to Carey, that was not enough for India. After Shafali’s departure, Gardner removed Devika and Richa Ghosh, who had an outstanding outing in the last game, in quick succession, denting India’s hopes of a turnaround.
Captain Harmanpreet, who became the most-capped WT20I player with 140th appearance, slog-sweeped a full delivery of Megan Schutt outside off, but ended up being caught at long-on by Sutherland. That was the end of India’s chances, even though Deepti hit three fours in the penultimate over. In the last six balls, India needed 27 runs, but despite Deepti being around, it failed way short.
The Super Over victory in the last game had reignited hopes, but another defeat saw the home team handing a 1-2 lead in the five-match series.
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