Richa Ghosh cameo in vain as Australia clinch series
December 17 2022 by Cricbuzz Staff
Richa Ghosh’s thrilling cameo went in vain as India fell short again to lose the fourth T20I
Richa Ghosh’s thrilling cameo went in vain as India fell short again to lose the fourth T20I against Australia. As a result, they conceded the series to the world champions despite fighting valiantly right until the end. Needing 38 from the final two overs, Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma made a valiant attempt before Megan Schutt held her nerve when India needed 10 from the final two deliveries. Eventually, Australia prevailed by 7 runs to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the series.
Chasing a huge 189, India lost Smriti Mandhana in just the third over after she fetched three quick boundaries. Shafali Varma didn’t hang in there for a long time as well as she mistimed one off Darcie Brown to fall for 20. India were under the pump when Jemimah Rodrigues failed to get going and was sent back for an 11-ball 8 before skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Devika Vaidya came to the rescue. The duo stitched a vital 72-run stand to bring India back in the hunt. While Harmanpreet smashed four boundaries off Heather Graham to bring the required rate down, Devika found it harder to up the ante.
India then suffered a killer blow when Alana King returned to the attack to remove Harmanpreet after the Indian skipper got a top edge. India needed 59 from the final five overs at that stage, which then became 53 off 24. Even though the equation looked extremely hard, Richa was in her elements and kept India in the hunt with some timely boundaries. Heather Graham’s return to the attack to bowl the penultimate over didn’t prove to be fruitful as Richa took her apart for 16 off the first three balls before eventually losing steam.
Earlier in the evening, Australia made a strong start with the bat as Alyssa Healy went on a boundary-hitting spree despite losing Beth Mooney early in the innings. However, when she shuffled across to smash Deepti Sharma for a boundary, Healy hurt her calf and eventually walked off the field by the end of the over. Radha Yadav then put India in control by cleaning up Tahlia McGrath in the following over following which Ellyse Perry took charge.
Perry stepped down the track first ball to hit Radha for a six over long on to signal her intentions early and followed it up with a four off Shafali. It was then Ashleigh Gardner’s turn to fetch a six in the next over as Australia posted 70 on the board at the halfway mark. The two batters turned on the heat in the second half as Renuka Singh was first hit for three fours in an over before Radha conceded 14 in the next. The two batters kept finding the boundary regularly as Australia raced to 122/2 after 15 overs, setting themselves up for a big finish.
While Perry brought up her 50 off 32 balls, Gardner threatened to bring it even quicker before she was stopped by Deepti. It was then Grace Harris’ turn to provide the finishing touches as Anjali Sarvani was taken apart for 43 runs on the night. Perry then rubber-stamped Australia’s dominance with two more sixes in the last over to help her side fetch 66 in the final five.
Brief scores: Australia Women 188/3 in 20 overs (Ellyse Perry 72*, Ashleigh Gardner 42; Deepti Sharma 2/35) beat India Women 181/5 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 46, Richa Ghosh 40*; Ashleigh Gardner 2/20) by 7 runs
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