Indian women lose the Tri-Nation series opener to Australia
Indian women lost the opening match of Tri-Nation T20 series to Australia by 6 wickets. This comes on the heels of the ODI-series loss at the hands of Australian team where the Indians were beaten 3-0. Out batted and out bowled by the visitors, Indian side led by Harmanpreet Kaur failed to defend a score of 152 runs.
Tri-Nation T20I series
The Tri-Nation T20I series is being hosted by India between March 22-31, in Mumbai's Brabourne stadium. England and Australia are the other two teams participating in the tournament.
Mandhana's 41-ball-67 knock goes in vain
On winning the toss, Australia decided to field first. India had a good start with Smriti Mandhana continuing her good form and scored 67 off 41. The opener, however, didn't receive support from other end with the likes of Mithali Raj, Harmanpreet, and Jemimah Rodrigues dismissed for low scores. Anuja Patil's 21-ball 35 towards the end helped India put a decent total of 152/5.
Visitors too good for India
Despite Jhulan Goswami's three scalps, Australian women proved too good for India as they chased down the target with 11 balls to spare. Beth Mooney (45), Elyse Villani (39), and skipper Meg Lanning (35) did the bulk of the task for the visitors. "We were short. Smriti was fantastic, but other batters need to step up," lamented the Indian skipper Harmanpreet.