Clinical India beat Australia in 1st T20I

Navi Mumbai: A resurgent India Women produced a spotless effort to crush Australia by 9 wickets in the primary T20I and take a significant 1-Zero lead in the three-match sequence right here on Friday. After Titas Sadhu’s career-best figures of 4 for 17 helped India dismiss Australia for a mere 141, openers Smriti Mandhana (54) and Shafali Verma (64 not out off 44 balls) tore into the guests with a 137-run stand to ship an excellent win for his or her aspect on the DY Patil Stadium.

Having missed the final two ODIs towards Australia, Shafali stroked her technique to her fifth half-century in T20Is, smashing six fours and three sixes with commanding strokes throughout the park.

Mandhana too was in her components, hitting her 27th fifty total and seventh towards Australia, a knock studded with seven fours and a six.

The openers separated solely once they had been one hit away from getting over the road, however not earlier than etching India’s second-best stand for the primary wicket.

India completed the match in 17.four overs, and it was additionally their largest win over Australia by margin of wickets.

It was additionally solely the third time Australia misplaced a T20I by this margin.

Putting their finest fielding effort throughout all matches this house season, India not solely confirmed exceptional enchancment however remained scientific all through to not enable Australia even a sniff.

Sadhu was not the one Indian to benefit from the excessive of a person milestone  for she produced the second-best figures for any Indian bowler in T20Is towards Australia after Jhulan Goswami’s 5 for 11 over a decade in the past.

Mandhana turned solely the second Indian batter after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur  and sixth total in girls’s T20Is  to have crossed the three,000-run mark.

The victory initially of this three-match rubber additionally units up India Women completely to have a crack at a sequence win  one thing they’ve by no means achieved at house towards Australia.

For that matter, India have solely crushed Australia as soon as in a bilateral T20I sequence, rising a 2-1 winner on their 2015-16 tour.

Chasing a modest 142, India made fairly an eccentric begin, logging in 14 runs in the primary over however none coming off the bat.

Australian seamer Darcie Brown peppered most of her deliveries down the leg, with two brushing Mandhana’s pads to run down the boundary ropes whereas one beating everybody on its method for 4 byes.

Shafali immaculately cracked a 4 by way of cowl off Megan Schutt off the primary ball she confronted.

Mandhana too cashed in on a brief ball from Annabel Sutherland to smack it over midwicket for the primary six of the innings to get going.

Earlier, Sadhu’s four-for was complemented nicely by Deepti Sharma’s 2/24 and Shreyanka Patil 2/19 as India restricted Aussies to a below-par complete.

While Sadhu rocked Australia with a three-wicket opening burst, Phoebe Litchfield (49) and Ellyse Perry (37) led the fightback for the guests with a 79-run stand for the fifth wicket.

However, Australia, who misplaced wickets in clusters on both aspect of that stand, had been bowled out in 19.2 overs.

Sadhu returned 3-0-8-3 in her first spell in the powerplay, accounting for Beth Mooney (17), Tahlia McGrath (0) and Ashleigh Gardner (0).

The 19-year-old right-arm pacer then returned for her last over  18th of the innings  and located additional success dismissing Annabel Sutherland (12) for her fourth scalp.

Having topped the batting chart in the ODIs, the left-handed Litchfield carried her kind into the shortest format however fell wanting a fifty. She smoked three sixes and 4 fours to make 49 from 32 balls.

Perry struck two fours and as many sixes to make 37 off 30 balls and was one of many two dismissals for Deepti, who confirmed nice management.

The solely blip for India, nonetheless, got here in the 12th over when a mistimed reverse-sweep off Litchfield’s bat fell between Renuka Singh Thakur and Jemimah Rodrigues with each the fielders ending up taking a look at one another.