New Delhi: In the first match of the 5-match T20 series played between India and Australia, Australia defeated the Indian women’s cricket team by 9 wickets. Batting first, the Indian women’s team had set a target of 173 runs in front of Australia, which the Australian team achieved by losing 1 wicket with 11 balls to spare.
For Australia, Beth Mooney scored an unbeaten 89 while Tahila McGrath scored 40 runs. Mooney hit 16 fours in his innings while McGrath hit 4 fours and 1 six. Earlier, chasing the target, captain Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney started the innings for Australia. Both shared a 73-run partnership for the first wicket in 8.5 overs.
Haley was caught by Devika Vaidya at the hands of Captain Harmanpreet Kaur. After that none of the Indian bowlers could take wickets.
Earlier, batting first after losing the toss, the Indian team got off to a brisk start with Shefali Verma scoring 21 runs off 10 balls. But in the third over, she was dismissed by Alyssa Parry. The Aussies bowled brilliantly between overs 6 and 12, taking the wickets of Smriti and Harmanpreet during that time.
But on the basis of Deepti Sharma’s 36 off 15 balls and Richa Ghosh’s 36 off 20 balls, scored 172 runs losing 5 wickets in 20 overs. Apart from Deepti and Richa, Shefali Verma (21 off 10 balls), Smriti Mandhana (28 off 22 balls), and Harmanpreet Kaur (21 off 23 balls) contributed.
In bowling, Alyssa Parry took the most 2 wickets for Australia, while Kim Garth, Sutherland and Gardner dismissed 1-1 players. The second T20 match of the series will be played at the same ground on Sunday, December 11, where the Indian women’s team would like to make a comeback.