With greater than 47,000 spectators as witnesses, India pulled off a surprising win to finish Australia’s 11-match profitable streak and to stage the five-match T20I sequence 1-1 on Sunday.
Chasing 188, the Indian innings had a number of hiccups in the direction of the tip however the Women in Blue managed to tie the scores, sending the sport into an excellent over, India Women’s first ever.
There was no dearth of cheers and help for the house aspect as Smriti Mandhana guided India to 20-1 within the Super Over, hitting debutant Heather Graham for a 4 and a six. Renuka Thakur then restricted Australia to 16-1.
LESSONS LEARNED FROM OPENER?
After a humiliating defeat within the sequence opener, India, whereas fielding the identical taking part in XI, made a variety of modifications to its method. Having received the toss this time, India opted to area.
Barring Deepti Sharma, not one of the bowlers may make an influence and regardless of captain Alyssa Healy (25 off 15) being caught early on, Mooney and McGrath took the Indian bowlers to the cleaners.
Mooney (82 not out off 54) and McGrath (70 not out off 51) solid an unbeaten 158-run stand off 99 balls for his or her second successive 100-plus stand. This was additionally the highest-ever partnership for Australia for any wicket in Women’s T20s.
When Healy was on the crease, Mooney began off slowly, however upped her tempo when McGrath walked in. They discovered the gaps with precision and hammered boundaries at will, scoring 53 runs off the final 5 overs.
With a difficult chase of 188 earlier than them, the Indians confirmed intent from the phrase go.
Smriti began off completely, hitting Kim Garth for 3 fours in her first over and went on to forge a gap partnership of 76 with Shafali Verma. While Shafali initially took time to settle in, Smriti accelerated with a flurry of boundaries. In the fifth over, bowled by Ellyse Perry, Shafali, too, joined in, with two consecutive boundaries earlier than being given a lifeline by Megan Schutt at deep cowl.
Making the many of the reprieve, the openers guided India to 74-0 in eight overs, earlier than Shafali was caught by McGrath off Alana King’s size ball round off.
The momentum misplaced, India quickly misplaced its second wicket as Jemimah Rodrigues as soon as once more didn’t get going and was trapped leg earlier than by Graham.
Two wickets down for 81, India wanted to regroup. Smriti was joined by captain Harmanpreet Kaur. She began off with a boundary and a six off Ashleigh Gardner, whereas Smriti ensured that there was no let-up.
AUSTRALIA’S FIRST LOSS OF THE CALENDAR YEAR
Smriti introduced up one more half century, hitting King for a six and a 4 within the thirteenth over to succeed in the mark. With a win simply 46 runs away, India eyed its management core to see them by means of however Graham broke the partnership when Harman slog swept and provided a catch to Mooney.
To add to India’s woes, Sutherland eliminated Smriti within the very subsequent over, making issues tough for India with 32 nonetheless wanted from 18 deliveries. However, Richa Ghosh stepped up and hammered three fast sixes to place the strain again on the Australians.
India wanted 14 runs within the ultimate over. With Richa and Devika Vaidya round, the equations modified shortly and it went all the way down to the wire with 5 wanted from one ball. Devika discovered the boundary off the final ball from Schutt to take the sport to the Super Over.
India handed Australia its first lack of 2022 and ended its 11-match unbeaten run within the format.