Tahlia McGrath scored an unbeaten 42 run knock to take Australia past India’s 119-run target. The batter hit six boundaries in her 33-ball stay. With the win the hosts sealed the multi-format series. They had won the ODI series 2-1, drawn the only Test before the first of three T20Is was washed. 

Defending an under par 119-run target, the Indian bowlers got off to a flier. In the very first over, pacer Shikha Pandey castled Alyssa Healy with an absolute ripper that swung in from the miles outside the off-stump clipped the off-stump bails. The visitors then got quick wickets after the powerplay as Australia were down at 46/4 after 9.1 overs. India then struck two more wickets. 

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However, it was Tahlia McGrath’s grit that the Indian bowlers could not beat. The 25-year-old kept nudging for singles and doubles before she went all out in the death overs. By the start of the 20th over, Australia needed only one run to win and McGrath inside edged Vastrakar’s ball to seal the game with five balls to spare. 

“Pretty good feeling. Bowlers set it up for us. The ball was holding up a bit, it was a little tricky but we got over the line, Has been an unreal series and has seen exciting cricket. The conditions have been a little tricky. We will review the whole performance and get ready to roll again,” Tahlia McGrath said, the player of the match said. 

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In the first innings, Puja Vastrakar gave a fine exhibition of power-hitting as her 36 not out off 27 balls took India to 118 after they were reeling at 81/9. Except for skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s 28, none of the Indian top-order batters managed to get going as the team kept losing wickets at regular intervals. 

“We bowled better. I think it was out best performance with the ball in the series. Tahlia McGrath was wonderful and helped us. Fair bit of swing around. But then it gets the bowlers in the game,” Meg Lanning said after the match. 

Her counterpart Harmanpreet Kaur felt India fell 20 runs short. 

“We fought till the end. Would want to take the team to take more responsibility. Pooja has the talent and she get us runs and wickets whenever we need. We know Australia side is good. You always need to come out with good plans and approach against them.”