Heather Graham becomes the second female cricketer for her country to score a T20 hat-trick
Post Date – 10:57 PM, Tuesday – Dec 20 22
(Photo: AFP)
Mumbai: Heather Graham became the second female cricketer for her country to score a T20 hat-trick as Australia beat India by 54 runs in Tuesday’s final match to win the five-match series 4-1 .
Graham (4/8 from 2 rounds) was Australia’s star player as she first sacked Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in her last two deliveries in the 13th round.
She then came back in the final innings, not only scoring a hat-trick of opening balls in the form of Renuka Singh, but also picking up a precious scalp of Deepti Sharma (53 off 34) in the final over.
Australian pacer Megan Schutt was the first woman in the country to score a hat-trick in T20 cricket in 2018.
Asheigh Gardner (66, 32 not out) and Grace Harris (64, 35 not out) were sent on for an explosive half-century unbeaten run that helped Australia win the title with 4 runs and 196 runs.
The Indian bowlers were regrettable after their initial success, as Gardner and Harris produced an unbeaten run of 129 runs from just 62 balls, bowling Australia to their highest total in the series.
The asking price was too high for India as they lost wickets frequently and were knocked out on 142 runs.
India started their big chase as vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (4) pulled Darcie Brown over the square-leg boundary in the first over.
But Mandhana’s stay was short-lived as she holed to Grace Harris with her front leg two balls later, hoping to flick the ball.
A battered Harleen Deol went all out and hit the boundary through point and ditch on the first ball of the innings.
Shafali Verma (13) then got a reprieve in the third quarter when she was brought down by Harris after a batter error.
But it wasn’t Safari’s day as she was caught by Annabelle Sutherland in Gardner’s bowling match.
Harleen Deol hit a 16-ball 24-run cameo before falling victim to an unnecessary run.
Things take a turn for the worse when Captain Harmanpreet Kaur leaves. In the ninth inning of offense, Annabel Sutherland scored on her first pitch and Harman Preet was stuck on a wicket as the batter failed to gauge the length of the pitch. Before the mouth.
Wicketkeeper-batter Richa Ghosh hit two boundaries before the death, before Heather Graham dismissed Devika Vaidya and Radha Yadav in consecutive deliveries to complete a hat-trick in the final over of the match.
Earlier, Gardner was unbeaten on 66 off 32 balls, helped by 11 boundaries and a six, while Harris was unbeaten on 64 off 35 balls, during which, She hit 6 fours and 4 at-bats.
After opting for bowling, India started well, beating Beth Mooney (2) and Phoebe Litchfield (11) cheaply in four rounds.
Skippers Tahila McGrath (26 for 26) and Ellyse Perry (18 for 14) shared 38 runs after that, with a third wicket securing the innings.
Just when the partnership looked dangerous, Shafali Verma fooled McGrath, throwing the ball with enough spin to beat the aggressive McGrath’s bat, getting stumped by Richard Ghosh.
