Report: Aus vs Ind – M4, Women’s WT20
First Published : 27 Sep 2012, 17:12
Last Modified : 27 Sep 2012, 18:00
Galle, Sep 27: India lost their ICC Women’s World Twenty20 opening game to Australia by eight wickets at the Galle Cricket Stadium here.
Chasing 105, Australia coasted to victory with 16 balls to spare. Openers, Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy, got their team off to a good start with a 43-run partnership for the first wicket. Subhlaxmi Sharma picked the wicket of Healy in the sixth over to give India their first breakthrough. But, Jess Cameron then joined Lanning, and the duo added 49 runs to take their team closer to the target, before Jhulan Goswami bowled the latter for 39. Cameron and Lisa Sthalekar then took their team across the line to begin their 2012 WT20 campaign with a win.
Earlier, Julie Hunter and Erin Osborne caused majority of the damage as Australia restricted India to 104 for the loss of eight wickets, after Mithali Raj opted to bat first.
Julie Hunter claimed Amita Sharma in the fifth over to end the opening stand for 29, while Erin Osborne dismissed Poonam Raut a couple of overs later. India’s batting mainstay, Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur then added 25 runs for the third wicket, before the Indian captain was run-out for 18. Three runs later, Jess Jonassen sent back Goswami, who had replaced Raj in the middle. This left India at 66 for four in the 13th over.
Sthalekar then chipped in with the key wicket of Kaur, while Osborne removed N Niranjana and Mona Meshram in the penultimate over of the innings. Sharma was the next to return to the dressing room; she was stumped off Hunter by Jodie Fields in the last over of the innings.
Brief scores: India 104/8 in 20 overs (Poonam Raut 21, E Osborne 3/13, J Hunter 2/23) lost to Australia 105/ 2 in 17.2 overs (M Lanning 39, J Cameron 36) by 8 wickets
