Schutt hat-trick puts Aussies into final

The result: Australia 5-187 (Mooney 71, Villani 61; Vastrakar 2-28) defeated India 5-144 (Rodrigues 50, Kaur 33; Schutt 3-31) by 36 runs

The match in a tweet: Sharp Shutter makes history with a hat-trick and leads Australia through to the T20I tri-series final!

The hero: Megan Schutt, take a bow! The Southern Stars became the first Australian woman to claim a T20I hat-trick after throwing India’s top-order into disarray.  Having set the hosts 187 for victory, Schutt struck the first blow with the fifth ball of the second over of India’s chase when in-form India opener Smriti Mandhana was bowled, the ball ricocheting off her pads and onto the stumps. Her dismissal brought Mithali Raj to the crease and an identical result followed, the veteran batter chopping on to be bowled for a first-ball duck and leave Schutt on a hat-trick at the start of the next over.

Bizarrely, Schutt had to wait longer than expected for her hat-trick ball; Australian captain Meg Lanning elected not to bring Schutt back to bowl the fourth over, instead handing the ball to Delissa Kimmince. But Schutt returned from the other end to bowl the fifth over and with her first delivery - the hat-trick ball - she enticed a slog from Deepti Sharma, who succeeded only in picking out Amanda-Jade Wellington at mid-off, completing the historic feat and leaving India reeling at 3-26.

Schutt returned later to finish her four overs with 3-31, but it was her early work that saw Australia become the first team to successfully defend a score in this series.

The support acts: Half-centuries to Beth Mooney and Elyse Villani in stifling conditions helped Australia set a total they assessed as "about par" at the midway point of the match. After the early dismissals of Alyssa Healy (9) and Ashleigh Gardner (17), Villani joined opener Mooney in a 114-run stand, the pair toiling in the near-40 degree heat to try and build the sort of significant partnership the Australians had sorely lacked in their defeat to England on Friday. They took Australia to 2-84 at the midway point of the innings before picking up the pace. Villani was the first to reach her half-century, from 35 deliveries, before Mooney followed suit soon after with a fifty of her own. Villani was eventually dismissed in the 16 over, caught at deep midwicket for 61 (42), as Mooney found the boundary three more times before falling in a similar manner for 71 (46).

Image Id: 709F0582E12B47C7A1D606E1AFAB74F4 Image Caption: Mooney and Villani take a breather // BCCI

The consolation effort: Jemimah Rodrigues was promoted to opener in place of Mithali Raj and the teenager flourished in her new role, posting her highest score in her eight-match T20I career to date. She reached her maiden T20I half-century having found the boundary on eight occasions, but couldn’t carry on with it, falling to Delissa Kimmince in the 14th over as she looked to go in the face of an ever-climbing required run rate.

The stat: Schutt’s hat-trick was the seventh taken in women’s T20Is and the first by an Australian. Schutt is only the second Australian, male or female, to achieve the feat in T20Is alongside Brett Lee, who took a hat-trick against Bangladesh in 2007. She’s also third Australian woman to take a hat-trick in international cricket, joining Betty Wilson and Rene Farrell, who managed the feat in Test matches.

Image Id: 1AAB257191634D8F8002642C3814E4FE Image Caption: Schutt collects her hat-trick // BCCI

The next stop: Australia are officially through to the tri-series final, where they’ll take on England. India, with three losses from three matches, can’t advance. Australia have one more more to play, also against England, on Wednesday, while India play Heather Knight’s team on Thursday. 

Australia XI: Healy, Mooney, Gardner, Villani, Lanning (c), Haynes, Perry, Kimmince, Jonassen, Schutt, Wellington

India XI: Mandhana, Rodrigues, Raj, Kaur (c), Patil, Sharma, Bhatia, Yadav, Vastakar, Goswami, Yadav

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia defeated India by six wickets. Scorecard

Second T20I England defeated Australia by eight wickets. Scorecard

Third T20I England defeated India by seven wickets. Scorecard

Fourth T20I Australia defeated India by 36 runs. Scorecard

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28. Live Coverage

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage