Published: Jan 06, 2024, 12:44 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 06, 2024, 12:44 PM (IST)
India defeated Australia by a massive nine wickets in the first Twenty20 International thanks to a four-wicket haul from Titas Sadhu and a century opening partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma.
Although it was only India’s seventh Women’s T20I victory against Australia, it was one of the most comprehensive ever. And for Harmanpreet Kaur and company, the win must have felt great after the heartache of Australia’s ODI series sweep.
With four balls remaining in the innings, India had Australia all out at 141 after choosing to bowl first, a decision that Alyssa Healy was “not too fussed” about at the toss. As luck would have it, the pitch calmed down wonderfully in the second half, enabling India to quickly get off to a quick start and chase the moderate goal with 2.2 overs remaining.
Even though she is only 19, her skill at bowling on a lovely evening in Navi Mumbai defy her years. In the fourth over, the right-arm pacer entered the field and got the ball to wobble off the pitch. She made an early impression by getting Beth Mooney caught on the edge of the circle. In her subsequent over, she struck again, dismissing Ashleigh Gardner (bowled) and Tahlia McGrath (caught at third man) in three deliveries. Later on, she came back to bowl the eighteenth over, in which she took out Annabel Sutherland and ended with figures of four for seventeen.
Australia looked superior only when Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield put on 79 off 52 for the fifth wicket, even with India’s poor fielding. However, other bowlers defended India at that point. Litchfield was caught by Amanjot Kaur in mid-off, reopening the door for India. Grace Harris was removed by Shreyanka Patil, and Deepti Sharma’s twin strike almost put an end to Australia’s innings.
“Losing wickets right throughout kind of cost us little bit and we couldn’t get any momentum because of that,”Healy stated at the post-match presentations.
Similar pitch? In the second half, the surface’s sticky characteristics gave way to ideal batting conditions, which Verma and Mandhana took full advantage of. Although it’s true that Darcie Brown’s leg-stump lines in the first over set the incorrect tone for the innings, Australia was unable to find the ideal length of ball on the surface. In a brief initial burst, Verma struck three boundaries off Megan Schutt, who had been the aggressor for the first six overs. However, Tahlia McGrath’s 12th over, which saw her give up 24 runs while bowling a variety of hittable lines, lengths, and wides, best summed up Australia’s day. It didn’t help that Shafali notched her eighth T20I fifty in the same over.
The openers appeared certain to get India over the finish line, but Wareham’s catch of Mandhana at long-on, following a fifty runs-per-ball, ended their 137-run partnership. Shafali remained in the game until the very end, scoring 64* off 44 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes), but Jemimah Rodrigues, who entered at No. 3, was the one who brought the chase to a close with a brilliant sweep.
Brief Scores: Australia 141 in 19.2 overs (Litchfield 49; Sadhu 4-17) lost to India 145/1 in 17.4 overs (Shafali 64*, Mandhana 54) by 9 wickets
