| T20 tri-series final, Junction Oval, Melbourne |
|---|
| Australia 155-6 (20 overs): Mooney 71*, Sharma 2-30, Gayakwad 2-32 |
| India 144 (20 overs): Mandhana 66, Jonassen 5-12, Vlaeminck 2-32 |
| Australia won by 11 runs |
| Scorecard |
Australia beat India by 11 runs to win the final of the women’s Twenty20 tri-series in Melbourne.
Beth Mooney hit an unbeaten 71 from 54 balls before Rachael Haynes made 18 off seven balls to help the hosts to 155-6.
Smriti Mandhana replied with 66 from just 37 balls as India moved to within 41 runs of victory with 35 balls and seven wickets remaining.
But Jess Jonassen claimed 5-12 as India collapsed to 144 all out, losing their last seven wickets for just 29 runs.
Left-arm spinner Jonassen was named player of the match while Mooney received the player of the series award, having also hit half-centuries in two of Australia’s three group games.
Victory cemented Australia’s status as favourites to win the women’s T20 World Cup, which begins in Sydney on 21 February.
The hosts chose to bat after winning the toss and despite losing Alyssa Healy (4) in the first over, Mooney led the recovery with Ashleigh Gardner and captain Meg Lanning.
They both made 26, helping Australia to 107-2, before Haynes’ quickfire contribution took them past the 150 mark.
Although India lost Shafali Verma (10) in the second over of their reply, by the 15th they had got themselves in a strong position at 115-3.
But Nicola Carey made a superb catch off Megan Schutt to dismiss Mandhana and that sparked the collapse, with Jonassen removing India captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Arundhati Reddy in the following over.
England miss final but win warm-up
Having been eliminated from the tri-series on net run-rate following their 16-run defeat by Australia in the final group game, England continued their preparations for the T20 World Cup by beating a Cricket Australia XI by 29 runs.
Wicketkeeper Amy Jones, who had made only 21 runs from four innings in the tri-series, top-scored with 75 from 53 balls, while in-form skipper Heather Knight added 39 as England posted 159-5 from their 20 overs.
Seamer Anya Shrubsole then took 3-31 as the CA XI finished well short on 130-6.
England now have two warm-up games in Adelaide against New Zealand (16 February) and Sri Lanka (18 February) before beginning their World Cup campaign against South Africa in Perth on 23 February.
Article courtesy of BBC Sport
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