India lose 3rd T20I to Aus by 21 runs; Shefali’s 52 in vain

Mumbai, Dec 14: Half-century from Shafali Verma went in vain as timely strikes by Australia enabled them to defeat India by 21 runs in the third T20I in Mumbai on Wednesday.
Australia are now 2-1 up in the five-match series. Chasing 173, India left too much to do in the last few overs. India were off to a good start as pacer Darcie Brown dismissed both Smriti Mandhana (1), Jemimah Rodrigues (16) before the powerplay ended, reducing India to 33/2.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Shafali Verma carried the chase. They brought India to 41/2 in six overs at the end of the powerplay.
Harmanpreet kept the other end steady while Shafali hit some big shots from the other. She smashed Nicola Carey for three fours in the 8th over before sending Ashleigh Gardner’s deliveries for two sixes in the next over.
At the end of 10 overs, India were 79/2, with Shafali (43*) and Harmanpreet (10*).
Shafali reached her half-century in 39 balls and with that, she also brought India to the 100-run mark in 12.5 overs. However, Carey’s medium-pace struck gold in the 14th over as Shafali was dismissed while attempting to pull a delivery when she was on 52 of 41 balls that included six fours and three sixes. India were 106/3 in 13.3 overs.
Brief Scores: Australia: 172/8 (Ellyse Perry 75, Grace Harris 41, Renuka Singh 2/24) beat India: 151/7 (Shafali Verma 52, Harmanpreet Kaur 37, Darcie Brown 2/19) by 21 runs. (ANI)