Australia v India: third women’s T20 international – live!

Mooney outstanding again, 61 from 43 balls.

Her scores across formats in this series: 125*, 52, 4, 11, 34, 61.

McGrath has gone 74, 47, 28, 42*, 44*.

Of the bowlers with four overs: Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar both 1 for 24, Renuka Singh 1 for 23, and Gayakwad 2 for 37. Take out Gayakwad’s one expensive over and Harmanpreet’s over that went for 14 and this would be a modest Australian score. Such are the margins.

That’s advantage Australia at the halfway mark. Chasing 150 will be a big ask, and everything will need to go right at the top of the order. Early wickets and this should be Australia’s game. But here’s a final chance for Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana to put on a show together.

20th over: Australia 149-5 (McGrath 44, Wareham 13) Spin for the final over, this will be interesting as a contrast to last night. Deepti does really well, following the batters for the first couple of balls and keeping them to singles. Wareham eventually gets so far outside leg stump that she can drive inside out over mid-off for four. McGrath can only dig out a yorker with two balls left, and Wareham does something similar as Deepti floats the last ball right in at her heels. They come back for a second run, and there is a very long third umpire replay to see whether there is a run out. Deepti at the bowler’s end has fumbled the ball while trying to knock the stumps with her wrist, but might be touching the ball at the crucial moment. Eventually the ump says he’s not sure, so Wareham gets one more run and McGrath gets a red ink in the book.

19th over: Australia 139-5 (McGrath 42, Wareham 5) This is good stuff from India tonight. Shikha Pandey is trying to bowl wide yorkers, and despite one slipping out as a high full toss, some sharp fielding keeps each ball to one run. Jemimah Rodrigues puts in a great dive at deep point. But to end the over McGrath opens the blade right up and drives well behind point, beating the field for four.

18th over: Australia 129-5 (McGrath 36, Wareham 1) Mooney may be gone, but McGrath is still there. Backs away to clear out some swinging room and just plants Gayakwad down the ground for six! The first of the night. Then backs away and drags a pull shot fiercely through square for four. So the wicket of Mooney for India, but also 16 runs conceded from the other five balls.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad does it again! Got Mooney late in the innings last night, and stops her from leading a late charge tonight. Mooney donks the first ball of the over for four over midwicket, but the second one she tries to slam through cover and India’s captain takes the love diving catch despite a bobble as she hits the ground.

17th over: Australia 113-4 (Mooney 57, McGrath 25) Tee-off time! Vastrakar the seamer bowling, and McGrath steps down to flat-bat her off a length and over mid-off. Then stretches wide of the stumps and diverts a full ball through point for four. Those were the first and last deliveries of the over. The intervening four were fresh-air swings. So, it worked, more or less, but still not a huge over.

16th over: Australia 105-4 (Mooney 57, McGrath 17) Five overs to go. Deepti Sharma with spin. Harmanpreet stuck with pace at the end of the second innings last night, and Australia won the match. Will it be spin tonight? Mooney can work it though: knows that Deepti will bowl wide across her, so she pulls out the reverse sweep for four. Nearly stumped when she tries the conventional sweep, but manages to keep her toe from lifting. So despite that boundary, six from the over.

15th over: Australia 99-4 (Mooney 52, McGrath 16) That’s a better over for Australia! Twice through cover, once from Mooney, once from McGrath. The former more about timing, the latter with tremendous power, as Renuka Singh goes for 10. That’s her day done with 1 for 23.

14th over: Australia 89-4 (Mooney 47, McGrath 11) Gayakwad returns, two overs left. This should be good, the tension of whether Australia can attack the spinner. She’s almost through McGrath, who cuts right off the stumps and just makes contact. Mooney’s attempt at the sweep shot doesn’t work, but the right-handed McGrath’s version does, stepping well across to hit flat and hard for four.

Still, a couple of dots in the over, seven runs in total, and India would take that.

13th over: Australia 82-4 (Mooney 46, McGrath 5) A good holding over from Renuka Singh, bowling her third. Singles only, and she has 1 for 13 from three overs.

12th over: Australia 77-4 (Mooney 44, McGrath 2) The old firm, then. Mooney and McGrath have had to do some important work together this series. Four runs and a wicket from Deepti’s over. India have held the Aussies well so far, but this pair can score quickly.

Coming in halfway through the innings, Perry feels the responsibility to take on the bowling. Lofted over long-on has long been her cleanest shot, and she advances to play it, but hits too flat and Vastrakar is there. Stumbles backwards a bit just as the ball reaches her, but she holds her composure enough to hold the catch.

11th over: Australia 73-3 (Mooney 42, Perry 8) Some bad luck for Vastrakar, a deflection off Mooney’s foot and away for four leg byes through fine leg. They don’t go against the bowler’s name, but they do go on the score. That makes nine from an otherwise good over.

10th over: Australia 64-3 (Mooney 41, Perry 4) Deepti Sharma to bowl her off-breaks and take us up to the halfway mark of the innings. Floats her first up to Mooney, who can’t time a drive. A couple of quiet singles, then Mooney slaps a sweep shot over midwicket but there’s a boundary rider there. Four from the over.

9th over: Australia 60-3 (Mooney 39, Perry 2) Ellyse Perry to the middle. And finds the middle, clipping her first ball so precisely into a leg-side gap that she considers coming back for a third run. Hits a cut shot straight to point, then rehearses it. Lanning and Perry have been pretty quiet by their standards in the recent white-ball games, wonder if she can change that tonight.

There’s the Ghosh appeal again, all guns blazing! Gardner wafts a drive at a pitched-up ball from Vastrakar, doesn’t account for a bit of seam movement, and it takes probably the back corner of the edge of the bat with the faintest touch as it goes by. The umpire’s ears pick it up through. Danger player gone.

8th over: Australia 58-2 (Mooney 39, Gardner 1) Harmanpreet brings herself on to bowl, but doesn’t do a good job of it. Right-arm over to a left-hander, lobbing some innocuous spin outside Mooney’s leg stump, short of length into the bargain, and Mooney tugs three in a row through fine leg for four.

7th over: Australia 44-2 (Mooney 26) You don’t often see that! I mentioned Lanning’s off-side play, and one of her best shots is the cut. She gets back so deep in her crease and can piece the off-side surgically. And she does exactly that from the last ball of this over, striking the ball beautifully to the fence behind point, but she’s chopped the bail off the top of the stump. So late did she cut that ball that she’s lit up her own wicket. With so glancing a contact that she didn’t even notice. But Richa Ghosh did. Lanning set off to the non-striker’s end but Ghosh was appealing long and loud. Out.

6th over: Australia 38-1 (Mooney 25, Lanning 9) Vastrakar to finish off the period of fielding restrictions: the seaming all-rounder who was so good with the bat last night. Lanning finds the boundary from her bowling though, that impeccable off-side play from the Australian captain as she forces through cover.

5th over: Australia 29-1 (Mooney 22, Lanning 3) Rajeshwari Gayakwad on in the powerplay, the left-arm spinner who took three key wickets last night and pushed that match so close at the end. They work her around alright though, spinning the singles before Mooney glides a boundary to end the over.

4th over: Australia 21-1 (Mooney 16, Lanning 1) Renuka Singh tightens the run rate back up. Mooney tries to drag across the line but gets nowhere. And a good piece of fielding in the covers from Vastrakar keeps a likely boundary to one. That’s the stuff.

3rd over: Australia 18-1 (Mooney 14, Lanning 0) Pandey to continue, but the left-hander doesn’t find her difficult at all. Mooney opens the face of her bat to slash four behind square, then steps forward to cover-drive another. Third ball in the sequence, Mooney picks it up off her legs and flicks behind square. Renuka Singh is half a chance to catch it out there, but doesn’t time her approach to the ball and then lets the half-volley through her to the rope. The number of boundaries that India could have saved in this series could have been the difference between winning and losing it.

2nd over: Australia 5-1 (Mooney 1, Lanning 0) The Aussie skipper to the crease, and defends the final ball of the over.

But the wicket falls at the other end! Healy scores one boundary through the covers, angled bat and slapped away. But the next ball is a touch short from Renuka, Healy pushes at it outside the off stump, and Ghosh up to the stumps deflects the nick up in the air and takes it on the rebound.

1st over: Australia 0-0 (Healy 0, Mooney 0) No run from the opening over! Pandey has Healy worried. Taking guard well across on off stump to guard against swing. But the Indians are wise to the concern, and have the keeper up to the stumps so Healy can’t bat out of her crease. One ball swings in prodigiously again, and nails her on the pad. Umpire says no. Might have thought it hit outside the line. I don’t think it did. DRS would have given that out. Pandeymonium once again.

Of course, this was the moment of last night that has gone crazy around the world online. Shikha Pandey versus Alyssa Healy. The same contest is about to resume tonight.

Two rotations tonight to give young players a shot: Hannah Darlington makes way for Annabel Sutherland, and Yastika Bhatia for Harleen Deol.

Australia
Alyssa Healy +
Beth Mooney
Meg Lanning *
Ash Gardner
Ellyse Perry
Tahlia McGrath
Nicola Carey
Georgia Wareham
Annabel Sutherland
Sophie Molineux
Tayla Vlaeminck

India
Shafali Verma
Smriti Mandhana
Jemimah Rodrigues
Harmanpreet Kaur *
Harleen Deol
Richa Ghosh +
Pooja Vastrakar
Deepti Sharma
Shikha Pandey
Renuka Singh
Rajeshwari Gayakwad

There’s a little boost for India. They’ve been told to bat first in the previous two games, but they’ll get a chance to know their target tonight.

The toss should be coming up shortly. Dew was a factor by the end of last night’s match, so most likely whoever wins will choose to bowl first.