The power-hitting of Asheigh Gardner and Grace Harris, together with Heather Graham’s hat-trick, helped Australia win the fifth Twenty20 international against India

On Tuesday, Australia defeated India by a score of 54 runs in the last match to win the five-game series by a score of 4-1. Heather Graham was only the second woman cricketer from her country to take a T20 hat-trick. India was defeated.

She first got rid of Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in the last two deliveries of the 13th over, making Graham the standout performer for Australia with the ball. Graham finished with 4/8 from her two overs.

She then came back in the final over of the innings and not only claimed a hat-trick with the opening ball in the form of Renuka Singh, but she also picked up the prized scalp of Deepti Sharma (53 runs off 34 balls) in the penultimate delivery. She did this by returning to the pitch.

Megan Schutt, an Australian pacer, made history in 2018 by being the first woman from her country to take a hat-trick in Twenty20 cricket.

When Australia was given the opportunity to bat, blazing undefeated half-centuries from Asheigh Gardner (66 not out off 32) and Grace Harris (64 not out off 35) propelled the team to an impressive total of 196 for four.

After having some early success, the Indian bowlers made a fool of themselves as Gardner and Harris smashed an aggressive unbeaten 129 off of just 62 balls to propel Australia to their highest total of the series.

India was unable to meet the required run rate because they kept losing wickets at regular intervals, and they were eventually bowled out for 142.

The huge chase for India got off to a roaring start when vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who was batting four at the time, pulled Darcie Brown past the square-leg boundary on the very first delivery of India’s innings.

However, Mandhana’s stay was cut short when, two balls later, she attempted to flick the ball but instead holed out to Grace Harris at forward square leg. Harris caught the ball.

Harleen Deol, who was one down when the innings began, immediately went on the offensive and hit a boundary shot through point and gully on her very first ball.

Then, in the third over, Shafali Verma (13) was given a respite when she was dropped by Harris at point after the batter made a shot that was outside the strike zone.

Unfortunately for Shafali, her day did not go as planned when Annabel Sutherland took a catch at long-on off the bowling of Gardner.

The cameo that Harleen Deol played consisted of 16 balls and 24 runs until she was dismissed due to an unnecessary run out.

Things went from bad to worse after the departure of the skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur. Annabel Sutherland was brought into the attack in the ninth over, and she struck gold with her first ball. The batter failed to assess the length of the delivery that Annabel Sutherland was bowling, thus she caught Harmanpreet in front of the wicket.

Richa Ghosh, the wicketkeeper who was also batting, hit two boundaries before she was out of the game, and then Heather Graham took out Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in consecutive deliveries to put herself in contention for a hat-trick, which she eventually achieved in the final over of the match.

Earlier on, Gardner remained unbeaten on 66 off of 32 balls with the assistance of 11 fours and one six, while Harris produced 64 not out of 35 balls during which she hammered six fours and four knocks over the fence. Gardner was able to do this with the support of 11 boundaries and one six.

India got off to a strong start after they choose to bowl, as they were able to quickly get rid of Beth Mooney (2) and Phoebe Litchfield (11) for a low score in the first four overs.

After that, the third wicket partnership of Tahila McGrath (26 runs off 26 balls) and Ellyse Perry (18 runs off 14 balls) contributed 38 runs to the stabilisation of the innings.

Shafali Verma duped McGrath with a tossed-up delivery that spun just enough to beat the bat of an aggressive McGrath, who was then stumped by Richa Ghosh. Just as the combination was beginning to look like it could be dangerous, Shafali Verma broke it up.

After another over, Perry played a massive shot down the ground, but it was caught by Harleen Deol while she was performing a juggling performance with the ball off Devika Vaidya.

After that, it was a complete Harris and Gardner show as the two batters completely dominated the Indian bowlers and scored runs at will.

The two Australian hitters were able to find the boundaries at ease, making it appear as though none of the Indian bowlers had an idea what they were doing.