Titas Sadhu, the Bengal pacer, took four wickets alone. The visitors were bowled out for 141 runs.
Last year, under the leadership of Shefali Verma in the U-19 World Cup, Titas Sadhu performed brilliantly in the final and won the maiden title for Team India. Once again the partnership between these two young players was seen and the Indian team started the series with a satisfying victory.
After a miserable loss in 3 consecutive matches, the Indian women’s cricket team finally won against Australia. Led by Harmanpreet Kaur, Team India beat the world champions Australia by 9 wickets in the first T20I in a one-sided fashion.
In the first match of the T20 series on Friday 5 July, India chased down a target of 142 runs in the 18th over with a world-record partnership of 137 runs between Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Smriti and Shefali scored strong half-centuries. However, the foundation of this victory was laid by 19-year-old medium pacer Titas Sadhu, who extinguished Australia’s hopes of reaching a big score with 4 wickets.
Titas Sadhu of Bengal is in great form. In the first T20 match against Australia, she picked four wickets. Naturally, this Bengal girl kept the Aussies under a lot of pressure from the beginning. She spent only 17 runs to pick up these four wickets. There is no denying that this innings will rank among Titas’ career bests.
Australia seemed colourless against the teen Titas
The Indian women’s team won the toss and decided to bowl first. Coming to bat first, Australia had a decent start but they could not maintain that consistency for long. Beth Mooney, the Australian opener, lost the first wicket as Titus sent her back. The Aussies began to collapse from here. Alyssa Healy then returned for just 8 runs.
However, Renuka Singh picked up Healy’s wicket. Titas did not take long to have another breakthrough as she sent McGraw to the pavilion. Australia women’s team was under peer pressure after losing consecutive wickets. Also, this Bengal teen took another two wickets, Gardner (0) and Sutherland, for just 12 runs.
Litchfield scored the highest run for Australia in this match. She scored 49 runs off just 32 balls. Her innings consisted of 4 boundaries and 3 sixes. Australia’s innings ended on just 141 runs. Alyssa Healy’s team could not even stand for 20 overs. Their innings ended in 19.2 overs. On this day Deepti who performed very well in ODIs took only two wickets with the ball.
Shefali-Smriti won with a record
While Titas Sadhu was a surprise with the bowling, aggressive opener Shefali Verma, who captained her in the U-19 World Cup, got revenge against Australia with the bat. Shefali, who was seated outside in the last 2 matches due to her poor form, made a comeback in style and rained runs against Australia right from the start. On the other hand, experienced batsman Mandhana played cautiously and provided good support.
Both of them secured the victory with a partnership of 137 runs. This is the record for the biggest opening pair in T20 against Australia. Mandhana (54) was dismissed after completing his half-century. Shefali persevered till the end and returned only after winning the team. She scored 64 runs off 44 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes).
