India's 17-run win sealed the T20I series for the visitors, Australia's first series loss on home soil since 2017

 India's 17-run win sealed the T20I series for the visitors, Australia's first series loss on home soil since 2017

An inspired India have rained on Ellyse Perry’s 350th-game parade, securing a comfortable 17-run victory to seal the T20I leg of the multi-format series in Adelaide.

After Smriti Mandhana (82 from 55) and Jemimah Rodrigues (59 from 46) helped India post 6-176 – the highest total in women’s T20Is at Adelaide Oval – Shreyanka Patil (3-22) and Sree Charani (3-32) restricted to 9-159 despite a fighting 45-ball 57 from Ashleigh Gardner.

Having claimed the T20Is 2-1, India now take a 4-2 lead into the ODI leg of the points-based series, which begins in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The loss is Australia’s first T20I series defeat on home soil since November 2017, in worrying signs for Sophie Molineux’s side just months out from the T20 World Cup.

Patil, the off-spinner recalled after sitting out the second match in Canberra, made an immediate impact with the ball when Georgia Voll (10) miscued a sweep and top-edged a high catch to Renuka Thakur in the second over of Australia’s chase.

When Beth Mooney (6) pulled a Thakur delivery straight down the throat of backward square leg, and Perry (1) was bowled advancing down the wicket to Patil, Australia were 3-32 inside the Powerplay.

Phoebe Litchfield’s bright start was squandered on 26 when she switch-hit a simple catch to Shafali Verma at long on, before Gardner got a slice of luck on 26 when Amanjot Kaur put down a simple return catch.

With Australia 4-78 midway mark still needing 99 off the final 10, neither Georgia Wareham (12 from 14) nor Gardner were finding the acceleration their team sorely needed as the run rate rose above 10 per over.A collapse of 4-15 put paid to any hopes of a revival, despite an unbeaten 16-run final-wicket stand from Darcie Brown and Kim Garth reducing the final deficit to 17 runs.

Earlier, the Aussies were put into field first when India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won a third consecutive toss. Local hero Brown made an inauspicious start with the ball, sending down four wides in the opening over of the match.

Garth secured the crucial wicket of Verma (7) in the third over, with the aggressive opener hitting a simple catch to Sutherland at mid-on.

From there, however, the Mandhana-Rodrigues show took over.

Gardner’s fifth boundary brought up a 42-ball half-century, her first in T20Is since December 2022.

But when she fell to an outstanding diving grab from Rodrigues with Australia still needing 49 runs from 25 deliveries, and the hard-hitting Grace Harris (1) trod on her own stumps looking to pull Charani an over later, the match drifted out of Australia’s grasp.