India produced a composed and clinical all-round performance to outplay Australia in the third T20I at Adelaide, with the contest unfolding through key partnerships, timely breakthroughs, and a decisive middle-overs squeeze. Representing the India women’s national cricket team, the visitors built their innings patiently before accelerating, while the Australia women’s national cricket team responded in patches but never fully seized momentum.
India’s innings began with early movement for the Australian seamers, and the first breakthrough arrived at 19 when Shafali Verma fell for 7 off 6 balls, caught off Kim Garth. That brought Smriti Mandhana together with Jemimah Rodrigues, and the pair transformed the tempo of the innings. Their partnership became the backbone of India’s total, mixing classical strokeplay with calculated aggression.
Mandhana drove fluently through the offside while Rodrigues rotated strike cleverly, and together they stitched a commanding 121-run stand that shifted pressure onto Australia’s bowlers. Mandhana’s sparkling 82 from 55 balls, including eight fours and three sixes, ended in the 17th over when she was caught off Annabel Sutherland with India well placed at 140.
Rodrigues continued to anchor the innings and added useful late runs with Richa Ghosh, whose brisk 18 off 7 balls injected finishing momentum. The middle-order briefly stumbled with two runouts in the final over, but Rodrigues’ classy 59 from 46 balls ensured India closed on a strong 176/6 from 20 overs. For Australia, Sutherland led the bowling effort with three wickets, while Garth and others chipped in, though the attack struggled to contain India’s main partnership through the middle phase.
Australia’s chase never settled into a rhythm despite flashes of resistance. Georgia Voll struck an early six but departed at 19, and Beth Mooney soon followed at 21, giving Renuka Singh an early impact with the new ball. Phoebe Litchfield counterattacked with 26 from 17, sharing a short partnership that briefly revived hopes, but India’s spin combination then tightened the screws. N Sree Charani removed Litchfield and struck twice more, while Shreyanka Patil delivered a decisive spell, claiming 3 wickets for 22 runs and breaking Australia’s middle-order resistance.
The only substantial resistance came from Ashleigh Gardner, who compiled a fighting 57 off 45 balls. Gardner added a useful stand with Georgia Wareham and briefly lifted the scoring rate, but once she fell at 128, Australia’s chase unraveled quickly. Arundhati Reddy supported with two wickets, and disciplined bowling in the death overs prevented any late surge. Australia eventually finished on 159/9 in 20 overs, falling 17 runs short.
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