Megan Schutt claims hat-trick Australia beat India by 36 runs
Australia handed hosts India their third successive defeat in the T20 tri-series where England are the third side. In their second win in three games, Australia beat India by 36 runs at the CCI in Mumbai, thus meaning that India now have no chance of making it to the final with two round-robin matches remaining.
Medium-pacer Megan Schutt claimed a hat-trick for Australia, who defended 187 on a good batting track. In the second over of India's run chase itself, Schutt removed big-hitter Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj, bowling them both off consecutive deliveries. In the first ball of her following over, Deepti Sharma was caught at mid-off to complete the hat-trick, as Schutt finished with 3/26 in four overs. Though Jemimah Rodrigues, 50, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur, 33, put up a fight with a 54-run stand for the fourth wicket, India were restricted to 150/5 in their 20 overs. During the unsuccessful chase, Jemimah Rodrigues at 17 years 202 days became the second youngest to score a fifty in Women's T20I cricket after West Indian Stafanie Taylor (17y-16d) in June 2008.
Earlier, Australia were inserted to bat by Kaur, whose decision seemed justified when teenaged pacer Pooja Vastrakar removed Alyssa Healy and Ashleigh Gardner cheaply inside the fourth over. But the recovery was then started by Beth Mooney and Elyse Villani in a stand of 114 for the third wicket with the latter hitting 61 off 42 balls while the former whacked 71 from 46 balls. Eventually, Australia racked up 186/5 with finishing touches from Rachael Haynes. The total proved enough for the visitors to qualify for the final and eliminate India with England having two matches left before the final.
Brief Scores: Australia 186/5 in 20 overs (Mooney 71, Villani 61; Vastrakar 2/28) beat India 150/5 in 20 overs (Rodrigues 50, Patil 38*; Schutt 3/31) by 36 runs