Australia wins the match and the series

By Kersi Meher-Homji

Australian women won the final Twenty20 International (T20I) by 14 runs to take the series 2-0. They also won the Multi format Series by 11 points to 5, having earlier won the One Day International series 2-1 and now the T20I series 2-0. The only Test match was drawn. Readers, please read the earlier match reports in the e-TIDU.

In the last T20I at Gold Coast last night, Australia scored 5 for 149, Beth Mooney scoring 61 with 10 fours and the dynamic Tahlia McGrath 44 not out with six fours and a six.

The Indian girls replied with 6 for 135 to lose by 14 runs. Opening batter Smriti Mandhana scored an elegant 52 with 8 fours. At the end of the innings, Richa Ghosh hit 2 fours and 2 sixes. But it was too late.

Tahlia McGrath was made Player of the Match and Player of the Series and richly deserved this dual honour. She said, “It’s been unreal to be part of, loving wearing the Aussie shirt again. I haven’t played T20 at this level before, but batting is batting. See ball, hit ball.”

Meg Lanning, the happy Aussie leader proudly stated, “We were looking forward to today, knew India would come back hard. Been a great series, both sides have had momentum. India have really tested us and given us a great challenge. Tahlia McGrath, Player of the Series, is a great effort to dominate the series and a number of young players have contributed at different times.”

Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur commented, “The result wasn’t in our favour but we have good players like Pooja Vastrakar and Richa Ghosh. So a lot of positives we can take and we are on the right track. Thanks to our support staff, they really stood for us. I’m very excited for WBBL (Women’s Big Bash League), it’s a great opportunity for us to grow as a team.”

I enjoyed the series, especially the batting of Smriti Mandhana and Beth Mooney. I only hope the dashing Jhulan Goswami was included in the T20I format. Her quick bowling and adventurous batting could have made a difference.

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