Megan Schutt has taken the first ever T20 hat-trick by an Australian woman.
With the last two balls of the second over, Schutt dismissed the in-form Smriti Mandhana and Mithali Raj; both were clean bowled.
She didn’t bowl again until the fifth over when she had Deepti Sharma out chipping to Amanda Wellington at mid-off.
India was in trouble at 3/26, and Australia clamped on the brakes as the required run rate blew out.
A solid 50 from teenager Jemimah Rodrigues wasn’t enough to save India, who simply didn’t have the batting depth to chase down 186 after Schutt ripped through their top order.
Earlier, Australia set a massive total on a flat wicket with Beth Mooney and Ellyse Villani putting on a massive third wicket partnership after Alyssa Healy and Ash Gardner fell early.
Villani dominated the partnership, scoring 61 of the 114 runs and finding the boundary ten times.
She hit three consecutive boundaries off Jhulan Goswami in the fifteenth over – including two fantastic shots through cover – before being dismissed in the next over.
Mooney kept going through, slapping another three boundaries before getting out for 71 off 46.
Mooney has been threatening to break a game open throughout this tour, and this inning was crucial in setting up the game for the Aussies.
Australia next plays England on Wednesday. A victory will be a crucial momentum boost for either team as they will almost certainly be facing off in the final of this tri-series.
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