Ellyse Perry's all-round exploits helped Australia recover with a win against India after losing in the Super Over against England. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)
New Delhi:
Ellyse Perry is acknowledged as one of the greatest all-rounders in women's cricket and she once again put up a grand show in the game against India in the Women's Twenty20 International tri-series clash at the Manuka Oval in Canberra. Perry took 4/13 as India collapsed disastrously, losing five wickets for runs as Australia restricted India to a below-par score. Perry then hurt India with 49 as they won a tense game by four wickets. This was not the first time Perry's all-round exploits had hurt India. In 2016, Perry had slammed 55 and had taken 4/12 in a T20I in Sydney and here, she was at her all-round best as Australia bounced back from their Super Over loss against England in the previous game.
Australia chose to bowl and India got off to a great start when Smriti Mandhana hammered Megan Schutt for a six and a four in the first over. However, India were already in trouble when Perry sent back Shafali Verma for 5. Tyla Vlaeminck took the wicket of Jemimah Rodrigues for 1 but Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur strung a solid partnership. Harmanpreet got going with a couple of boundaries and Mandhana looked in good touch when she launched Jess Jonassen for her second six. However, the left-arm orthodox bowler got the wicket of Mandhana for 35 as India struggled for momentum. Harmanpreet looked in good touch with two boundaries off Georgia Wareham but Perry came back and got the wicket of Harmanpreet, Taniya Bhatia and Deepti Sharma in quick succession.
Ellyse Perry hurt India with the bat as well as she smashed 49 to help Australia win. (Image credit: Getty Images)
India's catastrophic collapse of five wickets for four runs was compounded when Vlaeminck sent back Veda Krishnamurthy and Arundhati Reddy in the 15th over. Radha Yadav and Shikha Pandey took India past 100 but they managed just 103/9 in 20 overs.
Alyssa Healy's poor run continued as she was dismissed by Shikha Pandey for 1 but Ashleigh Gardner slammed a six and a four off Pandey. India, though, struck with the wicket of Beth Mooney while Gardner was sent back by Rajeshwari Gayakwad. At 31/3 after six over, it looked like India would fight and pull off an upset win but Perry hurt India again, this time with the bat. Despite losing Rachael Haynes, Perry found the boundary on a regular basis.
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Jess Jonassen gave her good company but Perry signalled her intent with two boundaries in the 14th over bowled by Reddy. India continued to fight when Gayakwad got her second wicket with the dismissal of Jonassen but Perry got India closer to the target with two boundaries off Radha Yadav. However, Perry fell for 49 but Nicola Carey sealed the deal with a four off Pandey as Australia inched over the line to win with eight balls to spare. With the Canberra leg coming to an end, there will now be a five-day break before the series resumes. England will take on India at the Junction Oval in Melbourne with the final now being played at the same venue on February 12.
