In what was a 21-over a side thriller at the DY Patil Stadium India women beat Australia in the 2nd T20I by five runs in a super over, marking a first defeat for the world T20 champions and the Commonwealth Games gold medalist this year.
On the back of Smriti Mandhana’s 79 off 49 and Richa Ghosh’s quickfire 26 off 13, India managed to duplicate Australia’s 187 off 20 overs.
Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and opted to bowl first. Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney tore into the Indian bowling attack with their belligerent knocks to power Australia 187 for one in the second women’s T20 International here on.
After asking Australia in to bat considering the dew factor, India were not able to put any sort of pressure on the rampaging visitors.
McGrath (70 not out off 51 balls) and opener Mooney (82 not out off 54 balls) shared an entertaining 158-run stand off 99 balls for their second successive 100-plus stand. The partnership was highest ever for Australia for any wicket in T20s.
In reply, openers Mandhana and Shafali Verma (34 off 23) added 76 runs in 8.4 overs to provide India the perfect start in their biggest run chase in T20Is. Alana King however, broke the partnership before Heather Graham would pick three wickets and set the match in a dicey situation with 14 runs required to win off the last over and five off the last ball. Devika Vaidya would procure a boundary off the last to tie the scores.
Super Over
Taking forward from her quickfire recent outing Richa Ghosh began India’s super over with a maximum before falling to Heather Graham. Smriti Mandhana however would then finish the over with a four and a six to take the total to 21.
