All-round Australia women crush India in 5th T20I, win series 4-1 | Cricket News

NEW DELHI: All-rounder Heather Graham scored a hat-trick after Asheigh Gardner and Grace Harris‘ powerful batting performances as the Australians beat India in the fifth and final T20I in Mumbai on Tuesday. With a 54-point victory in the final game, Australia won the series 4-1.
Heather became just the second cricketer from her country to score a T20 hat-trick as Harmanpreet Kaur and co. could only muster 142 in response to Australia’s 196 for 4.

Graham (4/8 from 2 overs) starred with the ball for the visitors as she first cleared Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in the final two deliveries of the 13th overs.

She then came back in the innings final to not only claim a hat-trick with the opening ball in the form of Renuka Singh, but also pick up the precious scalp of Deepti Sharma (53 from 34) on the final delivery.
Australian pacemaker Megan Schutt was the first woman from her country to win a hat-trick in T20 cricket in 2018.
Sent to bat, Gardner (66 from 32) and Harris (64 from 35) hit explosive unbeaten half-centuries to propel Australia to a commanding 196 for four.
Indian bowlers cut a sorry figure after initial success as Gardner and Harris sewed an unbeaten 129 offensively from just 62 balls to propel Australia to their series-high total.
The requested rate was too high for India as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals only to be knocked out for 142.
India started their big chase with a bang with vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (4) shooting Darcie Brown through the square-leg boundary on the first innings delivery.
But Mandhana’s stay was short-lived as two balls later she rammed into Grace Harris in the front square leg, looking to throw the ball.
Harleen Deol, on one try, gave it her all to attack and hit a boundary through the point and the gully on her first pitch of the set.
Shafali Verma (13) then got a reprieve in the third when she was dropped by Harris after the batter missed a shot.
But it wasn’t Shafali’s day as she was caught by Annabel Sutherland bowling Gardner in the long run.
Harleen Deol played a cameo of 16 balls and 24 points before being the victim of an unnecessary run out.
Things got worse when skipper Harmanpreet Kaur left. Introduced into the attack in the ninth, Annabel Sutherland struck gold with her first delivery, trapping Harmanpreet in front of the wicket as the batter failed to assess the duration of the delivery.
Wicketkeeper batsman Richa Ghosh hit two boundaries before perishing, then Heather Graham fired Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav on back-to-back deliveries to be in the fray for a hat-trick, which she completed in the final Match.
Earlier, Gardner went undefeated on 66-for-32 with 11 boundary assists and a six, while Harris went 64-for-35 during which she hit six fours and four hits over the fence. .
Opting to bowl, India started brightly, knocking out Beth Mooney (2) and Phoebe Litchfield (11) cheaply in four overs.
Subsequently, skipper Tahila McGrath (26 of 26) and Ellyse Perry (18 of 14) shared 38 runs for the third wicket to stabilize the innings.
Just when the partnership looked dangerous, Shafali Verma tricked McGrath with a jerky delivery that spun just enough to bat an aggressive McGrath to be puzzled by Richa Ghosh.
A little later, Perry went in search of a big ground shot, caught by Harleen Deol in a bowling juggling act past Devika Vaidya.
Afterwards, it was a full show from Harris and Gardner as the two batters took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners.
All of the Indian bowlers looked distraught in front of the two Australian batters as they found the boundaries at will.
It was Harris who raised his first fifty in just 28 balls with a six from Renuka Singh on the 18th, then a ball later Gardner also achieved the feat with a limit in just 25 balls.
It was raining limits and sixes towards the end as the Indian bowlers looked downright out of sorts and some sloppy field work didn’t help the hosts either.
Vaidya proved to be the most economical for India with figures of 1/26 across her three overs.
(With PTI entries)