Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma emerged as star batters in Team India's convincing nine-wicket over Australia in the Women's 1st T20I match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Friday, January 5.
With a target of 141, the hosts chased it down with 2.2 overs to spare. Varma played an unbeaten knock of 64 off 44 balls, while Mandhana scored 54 off 52 balls. The pair formed a 137-run partnership for the opening wicket in Team India's run-chase.
For Australia, George Wareham scalped the only wicket of Smriti Mandhana. Tahila McGrath had a forgettable outing with the ball as she went wicketless while conceding 31 runs at an economy rate of 15.50 in two overs.
Smriti Mandhana played a slow knock as she was scoring at a strike-rate of 103.85, while Shafali Verma unleashed her firepower at the top and played at a strike rate of 145.45. Her 64-run knock consisted of six fours and three sixes.
Team India bounced back with the first win of the 3-match T20I series following the ODI series defeat against Australia.
Titas Sadhu shines with four-wicket haul
Titas Sadhu was the star bowler in India's bowling against Australia in Mumbai. The 19-year-old picked the wickets of Beth Mooney, Tahila McGrath, Ashleigh Gardener and Annabel Sutherland to complete the figures of 4/17 at an economy rate of 4.20 in her quota of four overs.
Deepti Sharma and Shreyanka Patil also contributed with the ball by scalping two wickets each.
Australia were bundled out for 141 in 19.2 overs, with Phoebe Litchfield as the top-scorer for the side, with 49 off 32 balls. Apart from Litchfield and Ellyse Perry (37 off 30 balls), no other Australian players deliver their best with the bat.
The 79-run partnership between Litchfield and Perry for the fifth wicket revived visitors batting from 33/4 to 112/4 until the former was dismissed by Amonjot Kaur.
After Phoebe Litchfield's dismissal at 112/5, Australia struggled get going as they added only 29 runs in 4.4 overs, while losing remaining five wickets in the process.
Smriti Mandhana joins elite list
Team India's star batter Smriti Mandhana joined the elite list in Women's T20Is during her innings of 54 off 52 balls in the first T20I against Australia.
Mandhana became the second Indian batter after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and the sixth overall to complete 3000 runs in the history of Women's T20Is. The 27-year-old achieved in 122 T20I innings.
Smriti Mandhana's tally currently stands at 3052 runs, including 23 half-centuries, at an average of 27.49 and a strike rate of 122.08 in 126 matches in Women's T20Is.
