Chance to become Aus-some

PTI

Navi Mumbai, January 6

A mercurial Indian women’s cricket team will be keen to produce another all-round show as they look to seal the three-match series against Australia in their second T20I here tomorrow.

Putting behind the disappointment of a 0-3 hammering in the ODIs — punctuated by poor efforts in all the departments — India came out firing on all cylinders in the first T20 to thrash Australia by a huge nine-wicket margin for the first time in history.

Criticised for being sloppy in ODIs, India were spectacularly athletic while fielding on Friday, and the bowlers, led by young Titas Sadhu, did not allow Australia to get away at any stage in the first half of the opening T20I.

Shafali Verma (64 not out) and Smriti Mandhana (54) then shared 137 runs — India’s best opening partnership against Australia in the T20I history — to take them home.

It was a near-perfect night for the 19-year-old Sadhu (4/17), who set the ball rolling with three powerplay wickets, while spinners Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil claimed two wickets each to support the young pacer.

The Indian team also upped their fielding to save plenty of runs. The catching was good, too, with skipper Harmanpreet Kaur herself holding on to four chances.

Even Titas did well on one occasion to snaffle her fourth wicket when Ashleigh Gardner gave a return catch on her follow through.

“Behind every match or every good performance, there are hours of hard work that is for any given match,” Titas told the media after the match. “I felt like our fielding effort was brilliant because a bowler can’t give her best until and unless she is supported by all the nine players inside the ground.”

India’s comprehensive win has put them in pole position to push for a first-ever series win against Australia at home, as they have beaten them in an away series 2-1 in 2015-16.

But accomplishing the task would be easier said than done, as India will have watch out for Australia’s fightback, who will be determined to celebrate legendary Ellyse Perry’s 300th international game.

“Really excited for Sunday, actually. I think it’s a great opportunity for our team to celebrate someone who has been, you know, at the forefront of our game and sort of seen the evolution of women’s cricket right around the world in Ellyse Perry,” Australia captain Alyssa Healy said. “The opportunity to be a part of her 300th fixture, everyone’s really excited for her. She doesn’t want to talk about it. I’ve already brought it up at breakfast this (Friday) morning. She doesn’t want to talk about it. It makes her feel old.”

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