Tahlia McGrath topples all-time record during blockbuster clash against India Women

Standby skipper of Australia Women, Tahlia McGrath, scripted history during their high-profile clash against India at the T20 World Cup 2024 in Sharjah.

Ahead of the game, McGrath, originally the deputy to Alyssa Healy who had to miss the game against India due to an acute injury to her right foot suffered in the previous game, was on 990 T20I runs, just 10 away from the 1,000-run mark. A crunching shot through cover while dancing down the track to Pooja Vastrakar got her score up to 13. In doing so, not only did she surpass the landmark, but also in record time. Former Australian skipper, Meg Lanning, brought up the feat in 38 innings, while McGrath took one less to complete the milestone in a mere 37 innings.

McGrath became the joint second-fastest to reach the 1000-run landmark, joining legendary English wicketkeeper-batter, Sarah Taylor. Only former English top-order batter, Charlotte Edwards, has reached the benchmark in lesser innings (35).

Healy arrived to the venue in crutches, and it remains to be seen the extent of the injury in terms of her missing anymore games in the most crucial stage of the global tournament. The Australian team management as well as the players would be hoping for her to recuperate as quickly as possible, due to her being more than a leader while on the field.

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Verma departs as India aim to chase 152 to boost their chances of staying alive   

Coming on to the game, at the time of writing, the defending champions beat India comfortably to remain atop of the Group A, and narrowed the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side of making it further into the tournament. The Aussies had already reached the semis, but the win on Sunday added to their confidence, being the only undefeated team in the tournament so far.

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India's loss by nine runs in a must-win clash means that they now depend on the match result between Pakistan and New Zealand on Monday. Notably, Kaur & Co can still qualify if Pakistan beat New Zealand by at least a run, but not more than 53, or need to win the game by no more than 55 balls to spare, assuming the first innings score is 150 for both the instances.