They were made to work for it, but Australia atoned for a rare loss to England the previous day by winning game three of the women's international tri-series.

Perry starred, taking second-best career figures of 4-13 and belting 49 runs as Australia chased 9-103 to win by four wickets with seven balls to spare.

India looked on track for a reasonable total when they got to 3-78 after 13 overs but then lost 5-4 during a shocking middle-order collapse at Manuka Oval.

"It was tough. India bowled really well, especially defending such a low total," Perry said.

"They bowled a bit slower and it was about adjusting to that. It was a really good tussle today and a great challenge but I thought our bowling was exceptional.

"We put the screws on pretty well the whole way through and didn't let them get away and we took wickets at crucial times.

"It was nice to get those wickets in succession and when you do that you halt all the momentum of the batting side."

Perry was on a hat-trick and took three wickets in five balls in the 14th over to crush India's momentum as the visitors added just 25 runs from the final seven overs.

The world's top-ranked allrounder Perry should have had a career-best five-wicket haul but teenager Annabel Sutherland dropped a catch in her final over.

Australian bowler Tayla Vlaeminck also cashed in, taking 3-13 off four overs, while fielders Beth Mooney and Nicola Carey took three catches apiece.

India made their intentions known early and smacked 15 runs off the first five balls of the match as opener Smriti Mandhana (35) top-scored, but Harmanpreet Kaur (28) was her only support act.

Australian openers Alyssa Healy (1) and Mooney (6) failed as the hosts found themselves in trouble at 3-30 before Perry steadied the ship and saw them home.

"We need to be more strong mentally," Indian skipper Kaur said.

"We need to think about the short balls and how we're going to manage them in the upcoming games - if we're able to face those we'll be a different batting side."

India won the series opener against England, Australia losing to the latter in a super over on Saturday.

The three teams will play each other again in Melbourne next weekend to complete the series before the T20 World Cup begins on February 21.

Australian Associated Press