Australia 196 for 4 (Gardner 66*, Harris 64*, Vaidya 1-26) beat India 142 all out (Deepti 53, Deol 24, Graham 4-8, Gardner 2-20) by 54 runs
Ashleigh Gardner put in another all-round display while Grace Harris continued with her big-hitting heroics as Australia thumped India by 54 runs to seal a 4-1 series win at the Brabourne Stadium on Tuesday.
After Gardner and Harris propelled Australia to 196 for 4 - the highest total in this series - India's batting line-up crumbled for 142, as Heather Graham claimed a hat-trick in just her third T20I for Australia.
Deepti Sharma hit a half-century to take India to a respectable total at a time when a more embarrassing defeat looked to be on the cards.
Gardner, Harris onslaught
India started well with the ball, getting both openers out in a powerplay that also saw Renuka Singh bowl a maiden over to Australia's stand-in captain, Tahlia McGrath. McGrath, however, came back strong and helped Australia kick on, before being stumped off Shafali Verma in the eighth over. Australia were 67 for 4 when the in-form Ellyse Perry fell in the 10th over, holing out to long-on off Devika Vaidya's legspin.
However, like in every match in this series, a big partnership derailed the hosts' hopes. It was Beth Mooney and McGrath in the first two games, Perry and Harris in the third and then Perry and Gardner in the fourth. On Tuesday, it was Harris and Gardner, who added 129 runs off 62 deliveries for the fifth wicket.
They started their onslaught in the 13th over, when Gardner hit Anjali Sarvani for four consecutive boundaries. Australia hammered 112 runs in the last eight overs, including the 19 that came off Sarvani's.
Gardner toyed with the fielders, finding the gaps with regularity, hitting 11 fours and a six. Harris, on the other hand, was less interested in where the fielders were and more in clearing the rope. She hit four sixes and six fours en route to her first T20I half-century.
India were not helped by the poor fielding, gifting Australia runs from overthrows on three different occasions. And a rare dot ball in the death overs from Renuka also slipped past Richa Ghosh for four byes.
Graham, Gardner rattle India
Chasing a mammoth 197, India hit their first roadblock in the first over, when Smriti Mandhana flicked an innocuous delivery from Darcie Brown straight to Harris at forward square leg.
Struggling to accelerate, the hosts lost Shafali soon in the fifth over as Gardner teased her with a flighted delivery outside off that she hit straight to Annabel Sutherland in long-on.
Harleen Deol, who didn't get to bat in the last game, was promoted to No. 3 with India opting to rest Jemimah Rodrigues for the match. Deol upped the tempo with a few quick boundaries, including a square drive behind point off the first delivery she faced.
However, a mix-up with Harmanpreet Kaur brought an end to her knock of 16-ball 24 and India lost wickets in regular intervals after that run-out. Harmanpreet was trapped lbw by Sutherland before Gardner returned to get rid of the big-hitting Ghosh to leave the hosts at 70 for 5 in the 10th over.
Gardner finished with figures of 2 for 20, identical to the last game, to cap off another brilliant all-round display that saw her win both the Player-of-the-Match and Player-of-the-Tournament awards.
Meanwhile, Graham, introduced to the attack in the 13th over, ran through the lower middle order with a fine hat-trick. Vaidya was her first victim, deceived by a slower ball and stumped as she went forward to play at it. Her second wicket was a length ball outside off that nipped back in to crash into the stumps to send Radha Yadav back to the hut.
While Australia's innings took off in their 13th over, India's chase all but ended there.
Graham was taken off the attack after that, and she came back to bowl the final over, castling Renuka to complete her treble. She was not done yet, as she had Deepti hole out at long-off with the final ball of the match. She returned figures of 2-0-8-4.
In between the two overs that Graham took her hat-trick, Deepti once again put her finishing skills on show, scoring 53 off 34 balls, including eight fours and one six.
