Great feeling to win T20 World Cup opener: Harmanpreet Kaur after win over Australia
On a slow pitch in Sydney, Australia asked India to bat first and the Indian women folded for just 132 runs. However Indian bowlers bundled hosts out for 115 to win the tournament opener by 17 runs.
In Short
- Harmanpreet Kaur praised Poonam Yadav for her brilliant bowling in T20 World Cup opener
- Poonam Yadav picked 4 wickets as India beat Australia by 17 runs
- Harmanpreet also said it was difficult to bat at the pitch in Sydney
The Women's T20 World Cup kicked off in a dramatic fashion as India toppled defending champions Australia in a tough clash in front of 13,432 spectators at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday. Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav ripped apart the hosts' middle order to help India win the tournament opener by 17 runs.
India came into the tournament after getting a drubbing from the hosts in the final of the Women's Tri-Nation Series at Melbourne. Also, they were up against a side that had won the T20 World Cup four of the last 5 times while India were still without an ICC trophy.
On a slow pitch in Sydney, Australia asked India to bat first and the Indian women folded for just 132 runs. After winning the opener, India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur conceded that it was hard to bat on the pitch and she had belief in her bowlers to defend the modest total. The bowlers did not let their captain down.
When Australia were looking comfortable in their chase, Poonam Yadav got the prized wicket of Alyssa Healy soon after the wicketkeeper batter got to her fifty. Once Yadav got into the wicket-taking business there was no stopping for her as he tossed up Australia with her googlies.
Yadav removed Ellyse Perry and Rachael Haynes on back-to-back deliveries and then picked Jess Jonassen to finish with figures of 4 for 19.
In the post-match presentation, Harmanpreet Kaur praised Poonam for her brilliance, saying, "I'm happy we got 130 and that was something with which our bowlers can do well. A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front."
In the batting department, Deepti Sharma top-scored for India with 49 runs, while 16-year-old Shafali Verma and young Jemimah Rodrigues scored 26 runs.
"This is a great feeling to win the first game of the tournament. We knew this track is something where we can do well. If we can get to 140, we thought the bowlers can do the job. This track wasn't easy to bat on - the partnership between Jemi and Deepti was crucial for us," Harmanpreet Kaur said.
Australia skipper Meg Lanning said her side came into the tournament with complete preparation and would assess the game to learn from the defeat.
"Alyssa went well for a fifty but couldn't get going after that. We came into this match as ready as we could've been. India sort of outplayed us. Will assess this game and see what we can learn. It's not ideal. Would've loved to have won. But we have to get back on the bandwagon pretty quickly," Lanning said.