India Women beat Australia Women, level series 1-1: Key stats
India Women beat Australia Women in super over to win the second T20I on Sunday. Batting first, AUSW racked up a mammoth 187/1, credit to lavish knocks from Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath. Deepti Sharma (1/31) was the only positive for INDW. Smriti Mandhana (79) set the tempo, but Devika Vaidya's last ball boundary leveled the scores for a super over. Here's more.
2,000 WT20I runs and counting for Mooney!
Mooney clobbered 82* off 54 deliveries, striking 13 boundaries. Notably, the southpaw was dropped while batting on 21 in the 12th over. She made the opportunity count. She slammed her 15th WT20I fifty, thereby racing to 2,064 runs at 41.28. As per ESPNcricinfo, Mooney is only the third Aussie batter to score 2,000 WT20I runs after Meg Lanning (3,211) and Alyssa Healy (2,269).
Fastest to 2,000 WT20I runs
Mooney has now become the fastest to reach the 2,000-run mark in WT20Is. She unlocked the feat in her 67th inning, surpassing the likes of Stafanie Taylor (68), Mithali Raj (70), and Meg Lanning (72).
Shafali, Deepti attain these numbers
Shafali blasted a 23-ball 34, tonking a six and four fours. She also scored a brisk 21 in the first WT20I. She now has 1,146 runs at 24.38. Meanwhile, Deepti now has 82 wickets across 79 matches at 20.03. She has equaled the WT20I wickets count of ace England spinner Sophie Ecclestone.
McGrath proves to be a handful
McGrath has been a prolific performer for the Aussie Women since her debut in the 20-over format last year. The right-hander, who was dropped early on, went on to score 70* off 51 deliveries, hitting 10 fours and a six. She scored her fourth WT20I fifty. She has raced to 485 runs while averaging a monstrous 121.25.
Mooney-McGrath keep Indians at bay
As per Kausthub Gudipati, Mooney and McGrath's 158*-run stand is the highest partnership for AUSW in T20Is, surpassing the previous best of 151 between Mooney and Healy versus Bangladesh in 2020. Mooney-McGrath have become the first pair to fetch multiple century partnerships in WT20Is against India Women. The duo whacked an unbeaten 100-run stand in the first outing. It's the joint-fourth-highest partnership in WT20Is.
Mandhana races past 2,500 WT20I runs
Mandhana took the Aussie attack to the cleaners, scoring 79 off 49 deliveries (4s: 9, 6s: 4). It was her 19th fifty in the format and sixth against the Aussies. She has gone past 2,500 runs (2,544) at 27.95. She has surpassed Pakistan's Bismah Maroof (2,530) among leading run-getters in WT20Is, attaining the feat in her 100th inning.
How did the match pan out?
INDW conceded 187/1 after opting to bowl. Healy (25) departed after a hostile start before Mooney and McGrath took over. The duo fetched an unbeaten 150-plus stand to pilot the visitors to a match-winning total. Despite a good start, INDW lost a bit of momentum in the middle overs but earned themselves a super over. India defended 21 runs to level the series 1-1.
Other interesting numbers from the match
As per Kausthub Gudipati, this was only the second instance of a tied match for INDW in international cricket. The previous instance was against New Zealand at Indore in a WODI in 1997. Heather Graham shone on her WT20I debut, grabbing astonishing figures of 3/22 in the second innings. She dismissed Jemimah Rodrigues (4), Harmanpreet Kaur (21), and Deepti (2).
