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Match Report:

Scorecard

Aussies spun out by India in World Cup opener

Poonam Yadav's spectacular four-wicket spell undoes the hosts, who fall to 15-run defeat in Sydney

The match in a tweet: Poonam Yadav puts Australia in a spin, shocking the hosts and defending champions in the T20 World Cup opener

The score: India 4-132 (Sharma 49*, Verma 29; Jonassen 2-24) defeated Australia 115 (Healy 51, Gardner 34; Poonam 4-19) by 17 runs at Sydney Showground Stadium

The hero: Just when Australia looked to have the chase well in hand, India leg-spinner Poonam Yadav (4-19) turned the match on its head as she collected four wickets in 11 balls to lead the defence of what had seemed a below-par total. Poonam was absent through the tri-series due to injury but made a serious impact on her return, first ending Alyssa Healy's fiery knock before coming back in her next over to have Rachael Haynes (6) and Ellyse Perry (0) out with consecutive wrong'uns. She should have had a hat-trick with yet another, but ‘keeper Taniya Bhatia put down the outside edge from Jess Jonassen. It was only a temporary reprieve for the Australian allrounder, who was caught behind for two from the ultra-slow spinner's next over.

Yadav falls agonisingly short of hat-trick

The support cast: Teenage opener Shafali Verma and her partner Smriti Mandhana handed India a powerful start, punishing the bowling of Ellyse Perry and Megan Schutt in the Power Play. Verma, just 16 years old, was the aggressor, hammering five fours and a six as the subcontinent team raced to 40 off the first four, while the classy Mandhana chipped in with two boundaries of her own. Behind the stumps, Taniya Bhatia supported her spinners with aplomb, taking two catches and executing two stumpings.

The consolation acts: Alyssa Healy snapped her streak of low scores in fine style, smashing a 35-ball 51. The Australian opener had struck 9, 1, 0, 1, 4 and 9 leading into the match but turned that around in stunning fashion from the moment she found the boundary in the second over of the chase. She brought up her half-century with a six but fell a ball later as she batted bat a simple return catch to Poonam. Ashleigh Gardner, batting at No.5, kept Australia's hopes alive through to the final over of the chase with her 36-ball 34. The only other Australian to reach double figures aside from Healy, Gardner took up the attack to India, striking a superb six off the bowling of left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, but ultimately couldn't get the job done, caught off a rank full toss in the final over as the required target loomed too large. 

The hectic start: Australia captain Meg Lanning threw the ball to Jonassen and the move immediately paid off, the left-arm spinner striking with her first legal delivery to have Mandhana out lbw for 10. From 0-41, India lost 3-6 in the space of 15 deliveries as Verma – caught at mid-on for 29 off the bowling of Perryand Harmanpreet Kaur (2) followed Mandhana back to the dugout.

The freak dismissal: Harmanpreet loomed as a major threat but her innings ended in unlikely circumstances when she played and missed at a delivery from Jonassen that also deceived keeper Alyssa Healy – missing her gloves and instead bouncing off her pads onto the stumps. The rebound caught the India captain outside her crease, sending her on her way for two.

Freak dismissal caps off dramatic start

The surprise: Two days ago, Molly Strano thought she would be watching Australia's T20 World Cup opener on the couch. Instead, she bowled the first ball of the tournament after being called into the group as a late injury replacement for Tayla Vlaeminck. It was almost a fairytale start for the Victorian off-spinner, who allowed just two runs off her first over and could have caught Smriti Mandhana in the second, only to put the chance down from the bowling of Perry.

The stat: Megan Schutt (0-35) went wicketless in a T20I for first time since October 5, 2018, ending a 23-game streak – the longest in either men's or women's T20Is.

The crowd: A total of 13,432 piled into Showground Stadium, a record for a standalone women's cricket match in Australia.

The injury: Mandhana gave India a scare, forced off the field just one over into Australia's chase. The opener was racing to cut off a boundary and while her diving effort was successful, she slid on into the advertising hoardings. She immediately clutched her left shoulder and while she initially returned to the field, she soon left the playing area for medical treatment. The games flow thick and fast in this tournament and India will desperately hope for good news from their medical staff.

The bigger picture: A first-up loss puts Australia straight the back foot and leaves them needing to win all three of their remaining matches to keep their semi-final hopes alive. India, meanwhile, will reap the benefits of taking early points in what is without doubt the tougher of the two groups.

The next stop: Australia and India both fly to Perth on Saturday. For the Aussies, their next outing is against Sri Lanka at the WACA Ground on Monday at 3pm local time (6pm AEDT), while India will take on Bangladesh at 7pm (10pm AEDT) the same day.

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Annabel Sutherland, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Molly Strano, Megan Schutt

India XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Deepti Sharma, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Arundhati Reddy, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad 

2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Erin Burns, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wk), Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

February 21:Australia v India, Sydney Showgrounds

February 24: Australia v Sri Lanka, WACA Ground

February 27: Australia v Bangladesh, Manuka Oval 

March 2: Australia v New Zealand, Junction Oval

March 5: Semi-final 1 & Semi-final 2, SCG

March 8: Final, MCG

For a full list of all World Cup fixtures, click HERE

* All matches will be broadcast on Fox Cricket and Kayo, while Australia’s matches will also be broadcast on the Nine Network