When you have the odds of 8:1 in favour of Australia against
India in women’s T20 cricket, who do you expect the next match to win?
Australia? Just before the start of today’s play, Aussies were the favourites,
and nothing changed when they put on board a formidable 140-5 in 20 overs. This
was the highest chase that India would have to make, from India’s standpoint. To
everyone’s surprise, India eves chased down the target comfortably, with eight
balls to spare.
After seeing the debacle of their male counterparts in ODI
series against the same opposition and learning from their mistakes, it seems
that, Mithali’s girls were all-prepared to face the mighty Aussies.
Winning the toss and electing to field first at Adelaide
Oval, India restricted Australia to 140-5 in 20 overs. A disciplined bowling effort
alongwith some extra-ordinary fielding yielded rich dividends for India. Wickets
were taken at regular intervals, catches were held on and pressure was created.
Though Australia did not get off to a kind of start that they would have want
to, but Beth Mooney (36 runs off 38 balls) alongwith the rest of the batting
line-up ensured that the team put on enough runs on board. The turning point of
Australian innings was the powerful partnership between Alex Blackwell (27 runs
off 22 balls) and Alyssa Healy (41 runs off 15 balls). Healy smacked the Indian
bowlers all-round the park, hitting five boundaries and two maximums. Poonam Yadav
(2-26) was the pick of the bowlers, who deceived the Australians through her well-flighted
deliveries.
Chasing 141 runs was always going to be a daunting task. Add
to this the disappointing start which
India got, when their skipper Mithali Raj
fell cheaply for four runs in the second over of India innings. Smriti Mandhana
(29 runs off 25 balls) and Veda Krishnamurthy (35 runs off 32 balls) came
together and stitched a beautiful partnership. Singles became regular, odd-boundaries
were hit, and the 55-run partnership between them saw India in a comfortable
position. However it was not yet over, as
India lost their three wickets in quick succession. In the end, it was
Harmanpreet Kaur’s heroics which saw India home. She came in to bat in the 10th
over when India still needed 79 runs to win. Harmanpreet showed her class as
she scored a brilliant 46 off just 31 balls. India won the match in style as
Anuja Patil finished off the game with a boundary. At the close of play, India
scored 141-5 in 18.4 overs.
The second T20 will be played on 29th Jan at
Melbourne.
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