Jess Jonassen's five-wicket haul and Beth Mooney's unbeaten 71 power Australia to the tri-series title with a convincing 11-run win
Match Report: Australia Women win by 11 runs
ScorecardAussies turn it on to clinch T20 tri-series
The match in a tweet: Jonassen's five-fer secures a fighting win as Australia take out the tri-series final and gain a key World Cup edge!
The Score: Australia 6-155 (Mooney 71*, Lanning 26; Sharma 2-30) defeated India 144 (Mandhana 66, Kaur 14; Jonassen 3-9) by 11 runs at Junction Oval, Melbourne
The Hero: Jess Jonassen (5-12) was superb with her left-arm spin, picking up her first five-wicket haul in T20Is and standing tall in the big moments.
She allowed just three runs from her first over, against the run of play with Smriti Mandhana cruising, before returning to claim the enormous wickets of Harmanpreet Kaur and Arundhati Reddy in the 16th over.
She picked up a third when Radha Yadav (2) gifted Lanning a catch and, thrown the ball for the final over when India's tail-enders required an unlikely 15 runs, restricted the visitors to just three runs and picked up her fourth scalp when Annabel Sutherland took an excellent catch to remove Taniya Bhatia (11), before the safe hands of Rachael Haynes secured her fifth from the final ball of the match.
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The Big Moves: India were steaming towards the Australian total at the start of the 15th over with Mandhana on 62 and 46 runs required. Australia captain Lanning threw the ball to the world's top-ranked bowler Megan Schutt and while a misfield saw her first delivery go for four, her spearhead duly delivered next ball, as she enticed the Indian star into a pull shot that found a diving Nicola Carey in the deep.
Next over, Lanning called on left-arm spinner Jonassen to bowl to India captain Kaur (14) and again, her bowling change paid off, with the hard-hitting allrounder trapped lbw, before Reddy (0) top-edged to the gloves of Alyssa Healy two balls later.
It triggered a collapse that saw India lose 7-29.
The Support Cast: Beth Mooney anchored Australia's innings with an unbeaten 71 from 54 deliveries, continuing her excellent form ahead of the T20 World Cup. Mooney helped Australia recover after the dismissal of Alyssa Healy (4) in the first over and while she was handed a life on 13, otherwise looked comfortable as she compiled her third half-century in five matches. The left-hander hit nine boundaries as she carried her bat, bettering the 65 and 50 she hit earlier in the tri-series.
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Rachael Haynes made a welcome return to form, smacking 18 from seven deliveries late in Australia's innings. After a poor WBBL, Haynes had been scratchy early in the tri-series, before a promising 21-ball 24 against England on Sunday, but on Wednesday the vice-captain played her role to perfection, giving Australia a much-needed injection. Together with Mooney, she helped put on 41 runs from the last three overs, reaching the boundary twice and clearing it once in her exciting cameo.
The Consolation Act: India opener Mandhana produced a sublime 66 from 37 deliveries to cause plenty of angst for the Australian bowlers. The elegant left-hander was gifted a life on seven when Carey missed a difficult running chance on the boundary, making the most of it as she raced to a half-century from 29 deliveries. She got another chance on 51 when Sutherland put down a return chance that rocketed back off Mandhana's blade, before her excellent knock finally came to an end when Carey held on to another tough chance in the deep.
The Stat: Jonassen's 5-12 were the second best T20I figures by an Australian, only bettered by the 5-10 Molly Strano took against New Zealand in Geelong in 2017.
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The Freak Moment: Lanning looked set to be run out but the throw from India's Shikha Pandey miraculously bounced away from the stumps after it hit the box covering the stump microphone.
The First: Sutherland picked up her first international wicket in her third match, enticing Richa Gosch into a big swing only for the teenage debutante to top-edge high and safe into the hands of Tayla Vlaeminck. Both Sutherland and her teammates were delighted and the young quick duly received a good hair mussing for her trouble.
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The Form: Australia opener Healy was again dismissed cheaply, caught behind for four in the opening over. She ends the tri-series with scores of 1, 0, 1, 9 and 4 – a form line that is almost unbelievable given her most recent T20I knock prior to this contest was the world record 148no she hit at North Sydney Oval last October.
The Bigger Picture: Australia have gained a crucial mental edge over India – a side that has had their measure in recent times – before they meet again next Friday night in the opening match of the T20 World Cup at Sydney Showgrounds.
The Next Stop: Australia fly to Brisbane on Thursday, where they'll full and truly enter World Cup mode. Next up is their first official World Cup warm-up game, against West Indies at Allan Border Field on Saturday. From there, they travel to Adelaide for a second warm-up against South Africa on Tuesday.
CommBank T20I tri-series
Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
First T20I: India beat England by five wickets
Second T20I: England beat Australia in Super Over
Third T20I: Australia won by four wickets, Manuka Oval
Fourth T20I: England won by four wickets
Fifth T20I: India won by seven wickets
Sixth T20I: Australia won by 16 runs
Final: Australia won by 11 runs
* All matches will be broadcast on the Seven Network and Fox Cricket, live stream on Kayo and the CA Live app or listen on ABC Grandstand
2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup
Warm-ups
February 15: Australia v West Indies, Allan Border Field
February 18: Australia v South Africa, Karen Rolton Oval
Tournament
February 21:Australia v India, Sydney Showgrounds
February 24: Australia v Sri Lanka, WACA Ground
February 27: Australia v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval
March 2: Australia v New Zealand, Junction Oval
March 5: Semi-final 1, SCG
March 5: Semi-final 2, SCG
March 8: Final, MCG
For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE
* All matches will be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo, while Australia's matches will also be broadcast on the Nine Network