India 145 for 1 (Shafali 64*, Mandhana 54, Wareham 1-20) beat Australia 141 (Litchfield 49, Sadhu 4-17, Patil 2-19) by 9 wickets
Shafali and Mandhana then bossed the Australia bowlers with assured half-centuries that helped seal a nine-wicket win with 14 balls remaining.
After India opted to bowl on the toss, Renuka Singh Thakur bowled a good first over. But Beth Mooney turned aggressor, and Australia moved to 26 for no loss in three overs. That is when Sadhu, a late addition to the XI, was launched.
Bowling a tidy line and size from the beginning, Sadhu allowed solely two runs off her first 4 balls, together with an unsuccessful caught-behind overview. But she received her wicket quickly after when Mooney miscued a skier that Harmanpreet Kaur grabbed backtracking from mid-on. A struggling Alyssa Healy then hit Renuka for 4 earlier than providing Harmanpreet one other catch at mid-off.
Sadhu then tied Tahlia McGrath down, bowling 4 dots together with an edge that fell simply in need of the slip cordon. With the strain constructing, McGrath tried to go inside-out to an outswinger solely to miscue it to deep third. In a uncommon event of waywardness, Sadhu welcomed Ashleigh Gardner with a large, however then drew a forefront from her taking the catch on the followthrough to finish a near-perfect powerplay efficiency.
From a place of 33 for 4, Litchfield and Perry then dug in at the same time as Sadhu nearly struck once more when Richa Ghosh could not seize at a miscued Litchfield reverse slap. The pair took off within the tenth over in opposition to Vastrakar, with Litchfield taking part in a pick-up pull after which going inside-out to cowl subsequent ball.
Perry accomplished the over with an imposing pull behind sq. and the runs stored flowing in opposition to Shreyanka Patil and Deepti Sharma too. Litchfield, who was in gorgeous kind within the ODIs, then disdainfully hit Amanjot for consecutive sixes. But with the partnership rising harmful, Amanjot struck again with a slower ball. Litchfield solely discovered mid-off, falling one in need of fifty.
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma placed on India's greatest opening stand in opposition to Australia in T20Is•BCCI
When Perry hit one other six - and with Grace Harris on the different finish - it appeared like Australia would not decelerate, benefiting from their batting depth, however Patil trapped Harris lbw subsequent ball as she missed a reverse sweep.
Just seven runs got here off the subsequent two overs earlier than Sadhu returned. Annabel Sutherland lofted her for a six - the one boundary she conceded - earlier than Sadhu received her revenge by having Sutherland caught at mid-off. She turned the youngest Indian to choose a four-wicket haul in T20Is and it additionally made it 4 catches for Harmanpreet.
Deepti then received Perry and trapped Megan Schutt lbw in a two-wicket over. Patil wrapped up the innings with the tenth wicket to go away India chasing 142. The final 4 wickets value solely six runs.
With 14 on the board in a single over, Shafali drove Schutt by means of the covers off the primary ball she confronted. Next over, Mandhana pulled Sutherland for six, earlier than Shafali picked up two extra boundaries off Schutt. Shafali hit a straight six off Sutherland within the sixth over too as India raced to 59 for no loss by the tip of the powerplay.
With nearly no run-rate strain, Shafali and Mandhana ticked alongside comfortably. Shafali, who has come underneath the radar for a drop in kind just lately and was additionally unnoticed of the final two ODIs, reached her half-century off 32 balls, after hammering McGrath for six and 4.
Mandhana accomplished a run-a-ball fifty of her personal earlier than a pointy catch by McGrath at long-on ended her knock. The 137-run stand noticed Shafali hit six fours and three sixes, whereas Mandhana helped herself to seven fours and a six.
By the time Mandhana fell within the sixteenth over, India wanted solely 5 extra and Australia have been consigned to solely their fourth T20I defeat by 9 (or extra) wickets.
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
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