In what was a 21-over-a-side thriller at DY Patil Stadium, India women beat Australia in the 2nd T20I by five runs in a super over, a first loss for the T20 world champion and Commonwealth gold medalist games this year.
On the back of Smriti Mandhana’s 79 from 49 and Richa Ghosh’s quickfire 26 from 13, India managed to duplicate Australia’s 187 from 20 overs.
Previously, Harmanpreet Kaur won the coin toss and elected to bowl first. Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney threw their combative strokes into the Indian bowling attack to power Australia 187 for one in the second women’s T20 International here on Sunday.
After Australia was called to bat due to the dew factor, India was unable to put any pressure on the raging visitors.
McGrath (70 not on 51 balls) and opener Mooney (82 not on 54 balls) shared an entertaining 158-run stand off 99 balls for their second consecutive 100-plus stand. The partnership was the highest ever for Australia for any wicket in T20s.
In reply, openers Mandhana and Shafali Verma (34 from 23) added 76 runs in 8.4 overs to give India the perfect start in their biggest chase in T20Is. However, Alana King broke the partnership before Heather Graham would pick three wickets and put the match in a predicament with 14 runs needed to win the last over and five off the last ball. Devika Vaidya would get a boundary from the latter to even the scores.
super over
Building on her quick recent outing, Richa Ghosh started India’s super over with a maximum before falling to Heather Graham. However, Smriti Mandhana would then finish the over with a four and a six to take the total to 21.
In response, Australian captain Alyssa Healy began the chase with a boundary. However, Renuka Singh would give India a breakthrough on the third delivery, conceding just seven runs on the first four deliveries to take the equation away from Australia. A boundary from a misfield and a six from the last ball would not help Australia cross the line as they fell short by four points.