India beat Australia by 9 wickets in the first T20I on Friday, after losing the ODI series. Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana led the team to win. At the DY Patil Sports Academy here, Smriti and Shafali had a nearly perfect game. Their opening stand of 137 runs helped India reach the goal with 15 balls to spare. Indian now leads the three-match series 1-0 after this win. As they tried to reach their goal of 142, Smriti and Shafali stopped the danger that Megan Schutt and Annabel Sutherland posed as Australian pacers during the powerplay. The steady hitters timed their turns based on each delivery and hit the bad balls over the fence.
New Zealand From the very first over, the women were in trouble because Darcie Brown saw two balls race out of leg bye and over the fence. She saw her third delivery in a row race toward the line from a bye, which made things even worse. The no-ball made things worse for Brown. India Women put 14 runs on the board without even getting a single run. India got the boost they needed from that single over, and from then on, neither hitter looked back. The biggest good thing for the hosts was that Shafali scored. In the past, she had trouble getting runs on the board. She was free to play however she wanted while Smriti held on to her end and let her partner play however she pleased. In the same number of balls, Smriti reached 50, but she lost her wicket while trying to clear the stands before India won by 10 wickets.
After India won the toss and chose to play, Australia got through some early problems thanks to a great spell from young fast bowler Titas Sadhu. During the power play, she got rid of the dangerous trio of Beth Mooney (17), Tahlia McGrath (0), and Ashleigh Gardner (0). In the last over of the powerplay, McGrath got a six-ball duck and Gardner got a golden duck. Renuka Singh, a right-arm fast bowler, also got rid of Alyssa Healy, the captain, for just 8, which put India in full charge.
In the third ODI, Phoebe Litchfield’s hundred broke a few records. She then put together an important 79-run partnership with Ellyse Perry to get Australia back into the game. The spin danger from the hosts and Pooja Vastrakar’s speed were both turned away by both batters. Vastrakar was hit all over the field by Litchfield, who hit a six and a four on the next delivery. The cherry on top was Perry’s hit that sent the ball into the stands over the deep backward square leg.
