Twitter Reactions: Beth Mooney stars as dominant Australia swat aside India in series opener

Australia Women won the opening T20I clash against India Women by a big margin of nine wickets with a dominating batting display on Friday (December 9). Indian team posted a challenging 172-run total while batting first but it was not enough against the world's no.1 team. Star opener Beth Mooney smashed unbeaten 89 runs off 57 balls to easily guide Australia to a nine-wicket win with 11 balls remaining.

Australian captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and decided to bowl first at Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai. India handed a debut to Anjali Sarvani. Indian top-order started aggressively but lost their wickets in the process. Shafali Verma smashed 21 runs off just 10 balls and in-form batter Jemimah Rodrigues was bowled out on duck by legendary all-rounder Ellyse Perry.

The star Indian batter Smriti Mandhana looked solid with quick 28 runs but lost her wicket to Annabel Sutherland in the eighth over. Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur then took charge to keep the scorecard moving and scored 21 runs off 23 balls but lost her wicket to Garth in the 12th over.

But the young wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh and the star all-rounder Deepti Sharma showered big shots in the last few overs to help India score a big total. Ghosh scored 36 runs off just 20 balls and Deepti smashed 36* off just 15 with the help of eight fours to put 172/5 on the scoreboard. For Australia, Perry took two wickets while conceding just 10 runs from her two-over spell.

Compared to India's start, Australian openers started with a defensive approach to avoid any early wickets. Mooney and Healy put in a decisive 73-run partnership for the first wicket to put Australia ahead in the chase as Indian bowlers struggled for the wickets. Mooney smashed unbeaten 89 runs off just 57 balls and Tahlia McGrath contributed 40* off 29 to easily chase the target in 18.1 overs.

For India, Devika Vaidya took the only wicket but conceded runs at an economy rate of 11.00. Debutant Sarvani proved economically the best bowler, conceding just 27 runs in her four-over spell.

Here is how Twitter reacted to Australia's dominating win over India in the first T20I:

This is the highest score for India v Australia in a women's T20I batting first.

And their second-highest ever.

Only once have they done better, in Melbourne 2019/20.

Chasing 174, they made 177-3 in 19.4 overs.

— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) December 9, 2022

Highest successful women's T20I chase winning by 9 or more wickets:

173/1 - Australia🇦🇺 v IND, today
170/1 - Australia🇦🇺 v ENG, 2022
151/1 - England🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 v AUS, 2014
144/1 - India🇮🇳 v SA, 2018
142/0 - New Zealand🇳🇿 v IRE, 2018#INDvAUS

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) December 9, 2022

16th consecutive win for Australia Women in T20I - Dream team.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) December 9, 2022

(Potentially) Controversial opinion:

Richa Ghosh is going to be a bigger asset to the U19 team batting line up than Shafali Verma.

— Ananya Upendran (@a_upendran11) December 9, 2022

Richa Ghosh - Remember the name. She is just 19 years old.

She is the future Superstar! pic.twitter.com/alDFc67SIG

— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) December 9, 2022

Deepti Sharma's brilliant cameo has given India a strong total 💪#INDvAUS | https://t.co/03vPFwrpgb pic.twitter.com/bMNiXO2OF6

— ICC (@ICC) December 9, 2022

All the crowd cheer Deepti Sharma might have missed at Lord's a few months ago are being made up for by the crowd at the DY Patil Stadium.

One of the world's best, and bravest, allrounders continues to prove just how important she is to an Indian line-up.#INDvAUS | #INDWvAUSW

— Annesha Ghosh (@ghosh_annesha) December 9, 2022

And what a finish from Deepti Sharma. 36(15). India is now getting the right batters for the powerful finishes that T20 demands. #INDvAUS

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 9, 2022

Beth Mooney won the Gamechanger of the Match Award ❤️#Cricket #INDvAUS #INDvsAUS pic.twitter.com/xHr0aYW2Cd

— FAIZ FAZEL (@theFaizFazel) December 9, 2022

Unstoppable! A perfectly timed chase from the ultra-consistent Beth Mooney powers the Aussies to victory in the series opener.

Scorecard: https://t.co/OczKJJVCPR #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Y8HT6lHh7r

— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) December 9, 2022