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Flying V: Pace ace hits top form ahead of T20s

Australia to welcome back speedster Tayla Vlaeminck for the three T20 matches against India that will decide the series

Australia are set to be boosted by the return of another exciting young tearaway and an unscheduled two-day lay-off as they gather themselves for the three T20Is that will determine the winner of their multi-format series against India.

Leading 6-4 on points following their 2-1 triumph through the ODI leg in Mackay and the Test match stalemate on the Gold Coast, the Australians must now avoid defeat in the three-match T20I leg if they are to emerge victorious in the series.

India, meanwhile, need to win all three remaining matches to lift the trophy. If they win the T20s 2-1, the series will be drawn and the silverware will be shared between the two teams.

Set to be leading the Australian attack in the 20-over games is athletic speedster Tayla Vlaeminck, who head coach Matthew Mott revealed was very nearly a late inclusion in the Test side after she returned to full fitness ahead of schedule.

Vlaeminck suffered an Achilles injury during training with Victoria in the off-season and had initially been ruled out of both the ODIs and the Test match.

But the 22-year-old has looked in explosive form in the nets throughout this tour and had returned to top form earlier than expected.

"We're very excited to bring back Tayla in for the T20s," Mott said. "She's been terrorising all the extra players in the nets at the moment.

"She's ready to go. It was very close for this Test match, and as it turned out she would've had to bowl three days in a row and that would've been high risk for her on the amount of overs she's got under her belt.

"But she's fit and firing, and ready to go."

Australia, India settle for draw on intriguing final day

Renowned as comfortably the quickest bowler in the country, Vlaeminck has captured 11 wickets from her 11 T20Is to date while conceding just 5.66 runs per over.

The right-armer first represented Australia as a 19-year-old in an ODI in October 2018, before playing her maiden T20I the following month and then lining up in the 2019 Ashes Test in the UK.

Meanwhile, after a hard-fought four days of Test cricket, the Australians will take two days off from training as they mentally and physically refresh ahead of the three T20s set for Thursday, Saturday and Sunday on the Gold Coast.

The squad had originally been set to train on Tuesday but as the tour enters its fourth week, Mott felt the benefits of rest would outweigh those gained from training.

"I just saw the mood of the group lift pretty significantly there … we've cleared the deck for the next two days – we're going to do tools down, chill out for a few days and get back to a bit of normality," Mott said.

"It's been a very hectic schedule. Then we'll build up the day before the T20s and focus on that … definitely for the whole group, just a mental freshen up is going to do much more than any net session can do."

CommBank Series v India

Australia lead India 6-4 on points

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets

Third ODI: India won by two wickets

One-off Test: Match drawn

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast