Women in Blue make history

Jaswinder Singh Baidwan

Akhran da mureed
Staff member
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The Indian women’s cricket team made history on Friday by clinching its maiden T20 series win over three-time world champions Australia with a comprehensive 10-wicket triumph in the rain-truncated second game here. With today’s win, the Indians have established a 2-0 lead in the three-match series that will wind up on January 31 in Sydney.
Opting to bowl after winning the toss, the Indians had their fancied rivals on the mat in overcast conditions. India restricted Australia to 125 in the match that was reduced to 18 overs-a-side following rain interruption.
In reply, the Indian eves came out all guns blazing and were cruising along nicely before another round of showers forced a revision of the target to 66 in 10 overs.
Skipper Mithali Raj (37 not out) struck the winning runs as India overhauled the target in 9.1 overs.
In a thoroughly dominating performance, India cornered Australia early on by reducing them to 33/3 in the fifth over of the match. It took a 70-run fourth-wicket stand between Aussie skipper Meg Lanning (49) and Jess Jonassen (27) to steady the rocking boat. Lanning’s innings was crucial in propelling Australia to 103/3 over before disaster struck yet again. Once Lanning was run out by Harmanpreet Kaur, the wickets tumbled in a heap.
To their credit, the Indian bowlers, especially senior pacer and Player of the Match Jhulan Goswami (2/16) and leg-spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/27), ensured that the hosts remained shackled in their scoring.
In reply, the Indian batters seemed in a hurry to wrap up the proceedings and raced to 52 for no loss in 7.5 overs before the heavens opened yet again. Another round of recalculation followed and the target stood revised at 66 from 10 overs.
On resumption, Raj, who smacked half a dozen fours in her 32-ball knock, and Smriti Mandhana (22 not out) took no time in sealing the issue to give the team a historic triumph. — PTI
Brief scores: Australia: 125/8 in 18 overs (Meg Lanning 49, Jhulan Goswami 2/16); India: 69/0 in 9.1 overs (target 66 via D/L method) (Mithali Raj 37 not out).
 
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