Perry, Sutherland and Wareham help Australia level the series

Australia 133 for 4 (Perry 34*, Healy 26, Deepti 2-22) beat India 130 for 8 (Deepti 30, Wareham2-17, Sutherland 2-18, Garth 2-27) by six wickets

A disciplined bowling effort and a memorable cameo from Ellyse Perry, on her 300th international game, handed Australia a six-wicket win in the second T20I against India, helping them level the series 1-1, with one game to go at the DY Patil Stadium, on Sunday.

After being asked to bat first, India were restricted to 130, thanks to Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham, who shared four wickets between them and conceded just 35 runs in their eight overs. India batted contrastingly to the first T20I – where they chased down 141 with nine wickets to spare – and kept losing wickets regularly to end up with a below-par total. As evident from the series opener, the target never looked threatening with dew also coming into play.

Wareham, Sutherland keep India at bay

India lost Shafali Verma – who was the top-scorer two days ago with her 64 not out – early, with Kim Garth trapping her in front for 1. Garth had come in for Darcie Brown and ended up being named Player of the Match for her efforts.

Australia did their homework well and kept a sweeper cover for Smriti Mandhana in the powerplay to contain and it worked. Garth picked up her second when Jemimah Rodrigues nicked an outswinger to the keeper in the fourth over. Mandhana, who looked good for her 23, was unable to convert her start, falling to Sutherland’s short ball while trying to go big. India were down to 42 for 3 in the eighth over.

It soon became 54 for 4 as Harmanpreet Kaur’s poor run of form continued. In the last seven T20I innings, she has crossed 30 only once and is yet to reach double-digits in this series against Australia, across formats. Once Harmanpreet departed in the 11th over, Richa Ghosh and Deepti looked to pick up pace. They put on 33 runs for 24 balls.

Just when the partnership seemed to be building, Wareham dismissed Ghosh, courtesy of a late review from Alyssa Healy. It was a full-length delivery, pitching just in line to trap the batter lbw, though it initially looked like it might have pitched slightly outside leg. In her next over, the legspinner struck Pooja Vastrakar in front, with Healy once again getting the review right.

India collected just 32 runs off the last four overs with Sutherland’s change of pace keeping the scoring down. She dismissed Amanjot Kaur in the 18th over and ended with figures of 2 for 18 from four overs. Wareham, who was also equally economical, conceded 17 from her four. That India had a total of 57 dot balls is something that they would want to look at in this format, moving forward.

Perry shines after brisk opening stand

Australia started rapidly in the chase, helped in part by the dew that had come in. Healy used the fielding restrictions in the powerplay to her advantage, coming down the track and lofting the ball over the fielders in the ring to find boundaries. Beth Mooney, who was not as fluent as her captain, still ran hard between the wickets to take the quick singles. At the end of six overs, they were 47 for 0.

India tried Renuka Thakur, Titas Sadhu and Shreyanka Patil in the powerplay, but they couldn’t restrict run flow nor get a breathrough. Sadhu, who picked up a four-wicket haul in the opening game, was smashed for 12 runs in her first over and taken off the attack. She was much better in her second spell, conceding nine runs in two overs.

It took until the introduction of Deepti Sharma for Australia to look in any kind of trouble. The offspinner dismissed Healy for 26, breaking the 51-run opening stand, with her first delivery, when Patil took an excellent low catch at long-on. In her second over, Deepti forced Mooney to come down the track and when she failed to make contact, keeper Ghosh had her stumped for a 29-ball 20.

Deepti varied her lengths and pace to keep India in the game, conceding just nine runs from her first three overs. Patil then dismissed Tahlia McGrath in the 14th over after she smashed three fours in her 21-ball stay with Australia’s equation eventually coming down to 42 from 36.

Whatever hope India had at that stage was then destroyed by Perry and Phoebe Litchfield, who shared an unbroken stand of 36 from just 20 balls. Both the batters struck at more than 150, with Perry remaining unbeaten on 34 off 21 deliveries and Litchfield chipping in with 18 not out. In her 300th international game, Perry finished the game in style, with a six over deep midwicket with an over to spare.