Women T20I Tri-Series: Aussie women beat India in opening match

The opening match of India vs. Australia in the women’s Twenty20 International (T20I) Tri-Series, that was played in Mumbai ended in disaster as the host team succumbed too early with 152 runs in their 20 overs, which was easily chased by Aussies to win by six wickets.

The match was kicked off on Thursday when India was asked to bat by the Aussies and opener Smriti Mandhana scored 67 runs off 41 balls, paving the way for the rest. Mithali Raj strengthened the game further and Anuja Patil scored 35 runs off 21 deliveries, adding momentum to the Indian innings.

On the Aussie team, Ashleigh Gardener and Ellyse Perry bowled taking one wicket each. Delissa Kimmince dismissed Patil with the last ball of the 19th over. With 11 balls to spare, the Australians won the match with ease.

Indian pacer Jhulan Goswami in the very first over dismissed Aussie opener Alyssa Healy and again hit a blow too when she bowled Gardener in the third over when the score was 29/2.

But opener Beth Mooney and Elyse Vilani persisted with 79 more runs together to bring the Australian innings back on track. Mooney scored 45 runs off 32 balls before being dismissed by Goswami in the 13th over.

Vilani, who scored 39 runs off 33 balls, soon followed Mooney six deliveries later when Poonam Yadav bowled and caught the ball to dismiss her.

However, the Australians were well in sight of victory by then and skipper Meg Lanning scored 35 runs off 25 balls to finish the job in style. Goswami scored high with 3 wickets in 30 runs.

Score Board:

India: 152/5 in 20 overs (Smriti Mandhana 67, Anuja Patil 35; Ashleigh Gardener 2/22, Ellyse Perry 2/31) vs Australia: 156/4 in 18.1 overs (Beth Mooney 45, Elyse Vilani 39, Meg Lanning 35; Jhulan Goswami 3/30).