NAVI MUMBAI: It's not easy to impress the hard-nosed Aussies, especially when you are playing against them for the first time, but 19-year-old fast bowler Titas Sadhu managed to do just that, after she finished with terrific figures of 4-0-17-4, dismissing Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ash Gardner and Annabel Sutherland to star in the Indian women's team's nine-wicket hammering of Australia in the first T20I at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday night.
"They (India) probably had the best of the conditions with the new ball, the wicket was offering a little bit but in saying that, they earned that right, they bowled impeccable lengths and made it really challenging for us. So full credit to them and full credit to (Sadhu) for coming in and taking four wickets against our side, I thought she bowled incredibly well," Australian captain Alyssa Healy said in the post-match press conference.
Healy admitted that Australia weren’t at their best in the opening Women’s T20I against India on Friday, January 6 at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy in Navi Mumbai.
Healy pointed out that her new-ball bowlers "let the team down," while allowing India's openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma to blaze away to a 137-run opening stand in just 92 balls.
1/10:1st T20I: India Women crush Australia Women by 9 wickets
PTI
2/10:Clinical India dominate Australia
A resurgent India Women produced a spotless effort to crush Australia by nine wickets in the first T20I and take a vital 1-0 lead in the three-match series.PTI
3/10:Smriti Mandhana's 27th T20I fifty
Mandhana scored 54, hitting her 27th fifty overall and seventh against Australia, a knock studded with seven fours and a six.PTI
4/10:Shafali Verma's explosive knock
Shafali Verma (64* off 44 balls) stroked her way to her fifth half-century in T20Is, smashing six fours and three sixes with commanding strokes all around the park.PTI
5/10:Record partnership for India Women
Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma's 137-run opening stand is India's second-best for the first wicket.ANI
6/10:India's biggest win over Australia
India chased down the 142-run target in 17.4 overs, and it was also their biggest win over Australia by margin of wickets.PTI
7/10:Impressive Titas Sadhu
Young pacer Titas Sadhu took career-best figures of 4/17, helping India dismiss Australia for 141.ANI
8/10:Milestone for Smriti Mandhana
Mandhana became only the second Indian batter after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur — and sixth overall in women's T20Is — to have crossed the 3,000-run mark.PTI
9/10:India Women eye series win
India Women have a chance to win the series against Australia for the first time at home.PTI
10/10:Australia's struggle with the bat
<b>Australia's batting line-up collapsed as Titas Sadhu and Indian bowlers restricted them to a below-par total.</b>Getty Images"We left a lot out there with a bat – we had a platform to get ourselves up over 170, and 140 is not enough on that wicket, especially with the dew coming in. And then we just let ourselves down a little bit with the new ball – this is what happens in T20 cricket, when you're not quite on against good sides, they make you pay, and so we'll just have to fix it for the next two games," Healy stated.
Like they did in the Tests, Australia will now be itching to make a comeback when they face India in the second T20I on Sunday.
