India Women 0 for 69 (Raj 37*, Mandhana 22*) beat Australia Women 8 for 125 (Lanning 49, Goswami 2-16) by 10 wickets (by D/L method)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
It was another strong performance from India in the field © Getty Images
India Women created history at the MCG on Friday, where their ten-wicket win resulted in their first series victory over Australia Women in any format. In a rain-affected T20 contest the Australians reached 8 for 125 from 18 overs, led by captain Meg Lanning with 49, but they failed to take a wicket during the chase and India reached their revised target of 66 with five balls of their allotted 10 overs remaining.
India’s bowling was tight and their work in the field was outstanding after Mithali Raj won the toss and sent Australia in. Jhulan Goswami set things off on a fine note by bowling Grace Harris in the first over of the match and she picked up a second wicket when Beth Mooney lofted over the cover fielder Anuja Patil, who ran back with the flight to complete a brilliant catch that left Australia at 2 for 28.
Patil’s sharp fielding again came to the fore when she snapped up the ball at short mid-on and threw down the stumps at the non-striker’s end to find Ellyse Perry short attempting a quick single, and Australia were 3 for 33. While Lanning was at the crease Australia still had hope of a competitive score, though, and her 70-run partnership with Jess Jonassen steadied the innings.
But the match arguably turned on a piece of great fortune for India when Jonassen drove straight back down the pitch and the ball clipped the fingers of the bowler, Harmanpreet Kaur, and ricocheted back onto the stumps to have Lanning run out for 49 off 39 balls. Jonassen (27) slog-swept a catch to deep midwicket in the same over.
The Australians struggled to find the boundary in their remaining overs and the left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad proved hard to get away, and picked up two wickets in an over. India made a fine start to their chase through Raj and Smriti Mandhana and when rain arrived in the eighth over of the chase they were ahead of the D/L target on 0 for 52.
The rain eventually relented but only to allow a further 2.1 overs with India needing a further 14 runs on the re-adjusted D/L score. Raj and Mandhana cruised to victory with five balls to spare, Raj finishing on 37 from 32 balls and Mandhana on 22 off 24. India had an unassailable 2-0 lead with one match still to play.
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Source: ESPN Crickinfo