- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
AUSTRALIA on Saturday (9) took an unassailable 9-5 lead in the multi-format series against India after the visitors exhibited a poor performance with the bat in the second Twenty20 International (T20I) at Metricon Stadium in Queensland. The hosts were also in for trouble but a timely knock from Tahlia McGrath (42 not out off 33) saw them home with four wickets and five deliveries to spare.
ALSO READ: Australia-India women’s pink-ball Test ends in a draw
Earlier in the day, Australia skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and sent Harmanpreet Kaur’s side to bat first. India lost in-form opener Smriti Mandhana (1 off 5) in the very first over and soon there was a slump. Kaur played a promising knock of 28 off 20 at No.4 but when she was stumped by Alyssa Healy off Georgia Wareham in the ninth over, India were left reeling at 4 for 50. They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were reduced to 81 for 9 in 17 overs which made surviving the entire 20 overs look tough. It was Pooja Vastrakar’s 37 not out off 26 that helped the visitors to go past 100 and she added 37 runs with No.11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad who did not score any run in the four balls she faced. Those runs came in last three overs and India finished at 118 for 9 in 20. Opening bowlers Tayla Vlaeminck and Sophie Molineux took two wickets each for Australia.
The Indian bowlers then came hard at the Australians and knocked off some early wickets. Shikha Pandey dismissed Healy for four off two and soon, captain Lanning (15 off 20), Ashleigh Gardner (1 off 5) and Ellyse Perry (2 off 4) returned which left the hosts at 46 for 4 in the 10 over. But since the target was not too big, it needed a couple of stable partnerships for Australia to get back on track and they did precisely that. Opener Beth Mooney (34 off 36) added 35 vital runs with McGrath who was dropped when on five and that proved costly for the Indians. McGrath stayed till the end after Mooney was dismissed by Gayakwad to give her team a win. Gayakwad was the best Indian bowler with three wickets for 21.
McGrath was adjudged the player of the match.
The first match of the three-match series was ruined by rain on Thursday (7) and the third will be played on Sunday (10).
Australia won the three-match one-day international series 2-1 while the one-off Test was drawn due to rain.
