India got off to a superb start in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 as they defeated Australia by 17 runs in the tournament opener at Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday (February 21).
Asked to bat first, the Women in Blue posted a modest 132/4 in 20 overs on the back of Deepti Sharma’s 46-ball 49.
Defending the total, India bundled out the hosts for 115 in 19.5 overs with spinner Poonam Yadav (4/19) and medium-pacer Shikha Pandey (3/14) doing the bulk of the damage.
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Sharing her two cents on this convincing victory, India’s ODI skipper Mithali Raj said Harmanpreet Kaur and company will get a huge boost for the rest of the campaign after such outing against the formidable Australian side.
“Everyone has been talking about how much batting depth Australia have, yet they couldn’t chase 132,” Raj, who retired from T20I cricket last year, said in an ICC release.
“India will take so much confidence from that victory, but this World Cup is still very open. The match between Australia and India proved how competitive the tournament will be. It proves it does not matter where you stand in the ICC rankings.
“We will be seeing more of the same drama yet. This victory proves every team has a chance,” she added.
There was a sense of anticipation ahead of the India-Australia game and Mithali felt it certainly lived up to the hype.
“It was a whirlwind. There were so many ups and downs. It was a great start to the tournament not only because India beat the defending champions on home soil, but also because of how the game progressed altogether,” the veteran batter said.
“At no point could you say it was going in one side’s favour. First we saw our early wickets fall, then we recovered and Australia had to chase 132 before their middle-order collapsed. India and Australia both took the game their own way at different points which made it fascinating for spectators to watch.”
Raj, 37, pointed out that Poonam’s spell was the turning point.
“She’s been one of the main spinners for India for quite some time now, and her style worked again. Getting their (Australia’s) middle-order out really titled the match towards India, she was brilliant.
“Although we recovered our innings through Deepti Sharma and her partnership with Jemimah Rodrigues, it was Poonam’s flurry of wickets against Australia’s megastars, which completely changed the game,” she remarked.
Mithali also had special words reserved for the 16-year-old Shafali Verma, who scored 15-ball 29 on her World Cup debut to give India a fine start.
“Shafali Verma impressed me too on her debut. She gave India’s middle order the cushioning they needed to regain momentum. Verma has stuck with stroke play that she demonstrated in the tri-series,” she said.
“I think she should be given that free range in the first six overs because when you’re playing a top team, the runs in the first six overs are so important. It was great to be 40 up after just a few overs thanks to her contribution — Australia couldn’t replicate that.”
India will take on Bangladesh in their next game in Perth on Monday (February 24).
