Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy power Australia to 6 wicket victory over India, level T20I series 1-1

MUMBAI: Top knocks by Ellyse Perry, Alyssa Healy and Phoebe Litchfield powered Australia to 6 wicket victory against India in the second T20I of three-match series here at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Sunday.

With the victory, Australia squared the series 1-1 with a game to go. Perry and Litchfield aced the chase at the end after India had put up a fight, however, the visitors came on top with a 6-wicket triumph.

Chasing a target of 131, captain Healy gave her side a solid start while slamming the Indian bowler for boundaries. Openers Healy and Beth Mooney forged a 50-run partnership in under 7 overs of the game.

India's star all-rounder Deepti Sharma gave her team a big breakthrough as she removed Healy for 26 runs, breaking a 51-run partnership in the 8th over of the game. Deepti struck again and sent back Mooney for 20.

After both openers went back into the hut, Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry handled the charge and the batters dealt in boundaries.

Shreyanka Patil broke the fiery partnership as she sent packing McGrath for 19 in the 14th over of the game. Perry, who was playing her 300th match, shifted gears with the Litchfield and took her team home with a 6-wicket victory.

Earlier, Australia restricted India to 130 for eight. Sent into bat first, the Indian batters failed to make significant contributions in front of some disciplined bowling from the visitors, particularly Kim Garth (2/27 in 4 overs) at the start and Georgia Wareham (2/17 in 4 overs).

Annabel Sutherland was also an excellent bowler, finishing with figures of 2/18 in her full four-over quota. , All-rounder Deepti Sharma hit the most runs for India with 30 from 27 balls.

Brief score: India 130/8 (Smriti Mandhana 23, Richa Ghosh 23; Georgia Wareham 2-17) vs Australia 133/4 (Alyssa Healy 26, Ellyse Perry 34*; Deepti Sharma 2-22).