Poonam spins a web, India thump defending champs
Leg-spinner thwarts Australia with googlies, misses hattrick in 17-run win in opener
SYDNEY/NEW DELHI: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was introduced into the attack at the midway stage of India’s defence of 132 runs, with the T20 World Cup defending champions and hosts Australia in a commanding position. When Yadav came, Australia needed 75 runs from 66 balls with eight wickets in hand; importantly, Alyssa Healy was batting on 44 runs.
By the time Yadav was done with her third over (India’s 14th) in Sydney, Australia’s chances of winning the opening game of the tournament had fallen quite drastically. For Yadav had, in the space of 18 balls, spun the hosts into a web with four wickets—a haul that turned India’s fortunes and delivered them a 17-run win against the No.1 side in the world.
In her very first over, Yadav removed the well set Healy with a caught and bowled off a leg spinner—the extra flight on the ball causing a leading edge off the bat. Healy’s wicket may have applied the brakes, but it was the twin strikes of Rachael Haynes and the dangerous Ellyse Perry in Yadav’s following over that undid Australia’s wheels. And both those scalps were set up with the wrong ‘un. The mesmeric flight on the ball drew Haynes out, and India’s wicket-keeper Taniya Bhatia was quick to slap out the bails. In walked Perry and out walked Perry, bowled by the wrong ‘un. The hattrick ball— another wrong ‘un—caught the outside edge of Jess Jonassen’s bat, but Bhatia couldn’t hold on to the difficult chance. “Hopefully I will get a hattrick in the future,” said Yadav in her Man-of-theMatch speech. “This is the third time that I am missing out on a hattrick.”
Nevertheless, Yadav ended Jonassen’s stay in her following over, with yet another wrong ‘un. And this time Bhatia latched on to the falling ball. “We knew this track is something where we could do well. If we could get to 140, we thought the bowlers can do the job. A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front,” said Harmanpreet Kaur, India’s captain.
The Indian camp too must’ve been relieved after the visitors were restricted to just 132 runs, after having been put in to bat. “At the halfway mark, 133 to chase, we thought we were in a pretty good place to win,” said Australia captain Meg Lanning. “Unfortunately we didn’t quite execute with the bat today. There was a lack of partnerships through the middle and India bowled extremely well. We came into this match as ready as we could have been but India outplayed us a little bit.”
Lanning’s team quickly found themselves on the backfoot in the first innings, with India’s opening pair of Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana notching 40 runs in four overs. But the wheels came off with three quick wickets falling as the momentum shifted.
Verma made batting look easy as she plundered four fours off the world’s top T20 bowler Megan Schutt in a single over. But Jess Jonassen then pounced, nabbing Mandhana lbw for 10 before Perry tempted Verma into another big hit and she was caught at midwicket for 29.
Captain Kaur lasted just five balls before being stumped as India lost three wickets for six runs. Jemimah Rodrigues and the experienced Deepti Sharma steadied the ship with a 53-run stand but they could only reach 132. Australia made a steady start, putting on 30 runs in the opening five overs before fast bowler Shikha Pandey removed Beth Mooney. Healy kept the pressure on with a flurry of boundaries. She brought up her 10th half-century with a six off Yadav. And then Yadav decided to have her say. It turned out to be a match-winning one.