Graham’s hat-trick; Gardner, Harris power-hitting flooring India in fifth T20I

Heather Graham grew to become solely the second lady cricketer from her nation to take a T20 hat-trick as Australia crushed India by 54 runs within the ultimate match to clinch the five-game sequence 4-1 right here on Tuesday.

Graham (4/8 from 2 overs) was the star performer with the ball for Australia as she first dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav within the final two deliveries of the thirteenth over.

She then returned within the ultimate over of the innings to not solely declare a hat-trick with the opening ball within the type of Renuka Singh but additionally picked up the prized scalp of Deepti Sharma (53 off 34) within the ultimate supply.

.@Deepti_Sharma06 top-scored with 5⃣3⃣ off simply 34 deliveries in #CrewIndia’s chase but it surely’s Australia who gained the ultimate #INDvAUS T20I.

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lcM9rcoQxe pic.twitter.com/bzfLCwlpO1

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 20, 2022

Australian pacer Megan Schutt was the primary lady from her nation to say a hat-trick in T20 cricket in 2018.

Sent into bat, Asheigh Gardner (66 not out off 32) and Grace Harris (64 not out off 35) struck explosive unbeaten half-centuries to energy Australia to an imposing 196 for 4.

The Indian bowlers minimize a sorry determine after preliminary success as Gardner and Harris stitched an attacking unbeaten 129 off simply 62 balls to fireplace Australia to their highest complete of the sequence.

The asking charge was too tall for India as they stored shedding wickets at common intervals to be bowled out for 142.

India began their massive chase with a bang with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (4) pulling Darcie Brown throughout the square-leg boundary within the first supply of the innings.

Innings Break!

Australia put up 196/4 on the board!

1⃣ wicket every for @OfficialDevika, @TheShafaliVerma, Anjali Sarvani & @Deepti_Sharma06

Over to #CrewIndia batters now 👍👍

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/lcM9rc7Nve #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/iHlgJ5JWt7

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 20, 2022

But Mandhana’s keep was short-lived as two balls later she holed out to Grace Harris at ahead sq. leg, trying to flick the ball.

One-down Harleen Deol got here all out attacking and struck a boundary by means of level and gully from her first ball of the innings.

Shafali Verma (13) then bought a reprieve within the third over when she was dropped by Harris at level after the batter miscued a shot.

But it was not Shafali’s day as she was caught by Annabel Sutherland off the bowling of Gardner at long-on.

Harleen Deol performed a 16-ball 24-run cameo earlier than turning into a sufferer of an pointless run out.

Things turned unhealthy to worse when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur departed. Introduced into the assault within the ninth over, Annabel Sutherland struck gold along with her first supply, trapping Harmanpreet infront of wicket because the batter didn’t gauge the size of the supply.

Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh struck two boundaries earlier than perishing after which Heather Graham dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in consecutive deliveries to be within the fray for a hat-trick, which she accomplished within the ultimate over of the match.

Earlier, Gardner remained unbeaten on 66 off 32 balls with the assistance of 11 boundaries and one six, whereas Harris made 64 not out of 35 balls throughout which she struck six fours and 4 hits over the fence.

Electing to bowl, India began brightly, dismissing Beth Mooney (2) and Phoebe Litchfield (11) cheaply inside 4 overs.

End of Powerplay!@imharleenDeol is placing up a present right here as #CrewIndia transfer to 46/2 👍👍

Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/lcM9rc7Nve #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/fM8opa76U2

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 20, 2022

Thereafter, skipper Tahila McGrath (26 off 26) and Ellyse Perry (18 of 14) shared 38 runs for the third wicket to stabilise the innings.

Just when the partnership was trying harmful, Shafali Verma fooled McGrath with a tossed up supply which spun simply sufficient to beat the bat of an aggressive McGrath to be stumped by Richa Ghosh.

An over later, Perry departed seeking massive shot down the bottom, caught by Harleen Deol in a juggling act of the bowling off Devika Vaidya.

Thereafter, it was a whole Harris and Gardner present as the 2 batters took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners.

All the Indian bowlers seemed clueless in entrance of the 2 Australian batters as they discovered the boundaries at will.

It was Harris who introduced up her fifty first in simply 28 balls with a six off Renuka Singh within the 18th over after which a ball later Gardner additionally reached the feat with a boundary in simply 25 balls.

It was raining boundaries and sixes in direction of the tip because the Indian bowlers seemed fully out of kinds and a few sloppy work within the area additionally didn’t assist the hosts.

Vaidya turned out to be essentially the most economical for India with figures of 1/26 from her three overs.