Harmanpreet Kaur shines as Indian Women beat Australia

The Indian women’s cricket team produced a superb all-round performance to chase down a record total and upstage the world champions Australia by five wickets in the opening Twenty20 International of a three-match series in Adelaide on Tuesday.

The Indian captain Mithali Raj won the toss and chose to field. They did well to restrict the Australia to 141/5 after 20 overs. In reply, the Indians marched homes home in 18.4 overs.

The Indian bowlers gave the ideal start to the match by reducing the Aussies to 17/2 within four overs into the match. However, debutante opener Beth Mooney’s run-a-ball 36 followed by an entertaining knocks Alyssa Healy (41*) and AJ Blackwell (27*) lower down the order helped Australia post 140/5.

Leggie Poonam Yadav was the pick of the bowlers, picking up the crucial wickets of Beth Mooney and Ellyse Perry. Yadav was brilliantly supported by her teammates as Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey and Anuja Patil picked up a wicket apiece. The Aussies seemed to be down and out in the 15^th over whenJess Jonassen was castled by Anuja Patil with the score at 81-5. However, it took a super-human effort from Alyssa Healy as she blasted 41 runs off just 15 deliveries. Her knock included 5 boundaries and 2 sixes.

The Indians got off to a poor start as skipper Mithali Raj was sent back to the dressing room in the 2^nd over. In spite of the early setback, Mithali’s opening partner Smriti Mandhana and Veda Krishnamurthy began the rebuilding process. The duo stitched together a 55 run partnership for the 2^nd wicket with Mandhana and Veda scoring 29 and 35 respectively. The partnership was eventually broken in the 10^th over when Mandhana was stumped by Alyssa Healy rather unluckily. The Indians had seemed to have lost the plot when Veda Krishnamurthy fell soon after with the score at 74-3. However, the arrival of Harmanpreet Kaur ensured that the game was not lost as her man of the match performance ensured an Indian victory.

Despite the fall of Jhulan Goswami, Harmanpreet Kaur smashed the Aussie bowlers to all parts of the Adelaide Oval. Kaur’s innings of 46 off barely 31 deliveries comprised of six boundaries and one six. Kaur eventually fell in the 18^th over, attempting to square cut the wily Meghan Schutt. In spite of the fall of the key wicket, the Indians needed just 9 runs from 12 deliveries.

Anuja Patil and Shikha Pandey completed the mop-up job as the Indian women claimed victory by 5 wickets and 8 balls to spare. Harmanpreet Kaur was rightly adjudged the man of the match.

Brief Scores:

Australian Women 140/5 in 20 overs (Mooney 36, Pandey 2/26)

Indian Women 141/5 in 18.4 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 46, Schutt 2/23)

The series now moves to Melbourne for the second game on Friday followed by game three in Sydney on Sunday.