Women's Tri-series: Ellyse Perry's all-round show helps Australia defeat India

Canberra [Australia], Feb 2 (ANI): Ellyse Perry's all-round performance enabled Australia women to defeat India by four wickets in the ongoing tri-series here at the Manuka Oval on Sunday.
Perry played a knock of 49 runs, while with the ball, she scalped four wickets.
Chasing 104, Australia lost its way at the start and was reduced to 30/3 in the sixth over. Alyssa Healy (1), Beth Mooney (6) and Ashleigh Gardner (22) failed to impress with the bat, to give India a glimmer of hope in the match.
Ellyse Perry and Rachael Haynes then retrieved the innings for Australia as the duo put on 22 runs for the fourth wicket. India finally got the breakthrough of Haynes (9) in the 10th over as Arundhati Reddy sent her back to the pavilion, reducing Australia to 52/4.
Jess Jonassen and Perry put on 30 runs for the fifth wicket, but with just 22 runs required from 34 balls, Australia lost the wicket of Jonassen (6) as Rajeshwari Gayakwad dismissed her in the 15th over.
With just five runs required, Australia lost the crucial wicket of Perry (49). However, the hosts managed to scrape over the line by four wickets.
Earlier, a spirited bowling performance by Australia restricted India to just 103/9 in the allotted twenty overs.
Shafali Verma provided a quickfire start to India as she smashed Megan Schutt for 15 runs in the first over of the innings. However, Australia staged a comeback as they dismissed Verma (15) and Jemimah Rodrigues (1) in quick succession, reducing India to 16/2.
Smriti Mandhana (35) and Harmanpreet Kaur (28) then put on 40 runs for the third wicket, but as soon as the time came for some acceleration, India lost its way and was reduced to 82/8 in the 15th over.
Ellyse Perry scalped four wickets while Tayla Vlaeminck took three wickets, reducing India to under 110 runs in the allotted twenty overs.
Brief Scores: Australia 104/6 (Ellyse Perry 49, Ashleigh Gardner 22, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 2-18) defeat India 103/9 (Smriti Mandhana 35, Harmanpreet Kaur 28, Ellyse Perry 4-13) by four wickets. (ANI)