Australia canter to nine-wicket win over India | Cricket - Hindustan Times
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Australia canter to nine-wicket win over India

Dec 09, 2022 10:55 PM IST

Beth Mooney smashes unbeaten 89 as visitors chase down 173 to go 1-0 up in five-match T20I series

Reckless bowling and poor fielding proved disastrous for hosts India as Australia cantered to a nine-wicket victory in the opening game of the five-match women’s Twenty20 series on Friday evening.

Aussie batters made India pay for their misfields with opener Beth Mooney smashing 89 not out off 57 balls
Aussie batters made India pay for their misfields with opener Beth Mooney smashing 89 not out off 57 balls

A crowd of 27,000-plus had filled up the stands of the DY Patil Stadium in anticipation of a good contest between the home side and the world champions.

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Harmanpreet Kaur’s players were expected to be in an inspired mood after the batters did well to put up a good total of 172/5 on board, but the bowling and fielding was a big letdown. Aussie batters made them pay with opener Beth Mooney smashing 89 not out off 57 balls and Tahila McGrath making an unbeaten 40 off 29 balls to help overhaul the target with 11 balls to spare. The platform for the chase was set by captain Alyssa Healy (37 off 23 balls), who shared a 73-run partnership in 8.5 overs with Mooney.

With two months to go for the T20 World Cup, newly-appointed coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar would have been left sweating watching the sloppy performance in the field. He certainly has his task cut out if his side are to match top teams like Australia. Drives hit straight to the fielders also went through the hands. Even the side’s most agile movers, Jemimah Rodrigues and Radha Yadav, committed basic errors on the day.

It was such a dampener after the good work done by India’s lower-order batters to power the team to a respectable total.

Up against a strong bowling unit, Deepti Sharma hit an unbeaten 15-ball 36 while Richa smashed a 20-ball 36 to lift India after a mid-innings wobble saw them lose four wickets for 76 runs in 11.2 overs. The left-handed Deepti picked two vital fours in the 18th over against Annabel Sutherland to lend impetus to the innings, and took two more in the 19th over off Ashleigh Gardner to help India cross the 150-run mark. She then had the crowd on their feet with four successive fours to take the total to 172.

The criticism of the India women’s side has been its over-reliance on Smriti Mandhana and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. Against the versatile Australia attack, the pressure was on the team after the two failed to cash in on their starts, getting out in the 20s.

Mandhana started well, picking gaps in her favoured off-side area, with three fours to point, before falling while trying to repeat the cut shot off Sutherland. Harmanpreet was also caught in the ring playing an uppish drive.

After 15 overs, India had huffed and puffed their way to 112/4. It was 132/5 after 17 overs when Richa was stumped trying to give spinner Jess Jonassen the charge.

To the relief of the India dugout, Deepti hit a flurry of fours to take Australia’s death-over specialists by surprise. But her heroics were in vain as the Australian top-order made short work of the total.

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