'Maza aa Gaya' - Anushka Sharma ecstatic after India Women defeat Australia in the T20 World Cup opener

That India is the bogey team for defending champions Australia in ICC events was once again testified as to the Women in Blue completed a hat-trick of wins against the four-time champions in the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup opener at the Sydney Showground Stadium on Friday.

Poonam Yadav’s four-wicket-haul- which included a double-wicket strike in the form of Rachael Haynes and champion all-rounder Elysse Perry- ensured that the pre-tournament favourites were left entangled in a spin web so obscure that the 28-year-old leggy looked like taking a wicket off every wrong’un that left her fingers.

Yadav did not have the best of starts. This was her first International game since recovering from an injury that saw her miss out of the T20I tri-series and the rustiness was quite apparent as bowled quite a few full-tosses in her first over which were duly dealt with disdain by Alyssa Healy. But the leggie had the last laugh as she beat the half-centurion with flight, inducing a straight-forward caught & bowled chance. 

Yadav dished out her prime ammunition- the wrong’un. And the Aussies had no answer to it. Haynes and Perry were dismissed on successive deliveries and if not for the dropped catch by Taniya Bhatia, Yadav would have claimed a hat-trick. Nonetheless, that over completely changed the complexion of the game and despite the best of efforts by Ashleigh Gardener, it didn’t prove to be good enough in the end as India closed in on a 17-run win.

Anushka Sharma hails Women in Blue

With Indian notching up a come-from-behind win at the expense of Australia wishes galore for the Women in Blue from all around the country. Bollywood star Anushka Sharma joined the bandwagon when she took to her Twitter account and wrote: “What a brilliant start to the world cup and an absolutely thrilling victory by the women in blue!! Mazaa aa Gaya!!”

Earlier, India got off to a brilliant start with Shafali Verma throwing the kitchen sink at the Aussie bowlers. The outrageously talented 16-year-old displayed her full range of strokes during her whirlwind 15-ball 29- an innings which included 5 fours and 1 six. 

But a flurry of wickets including that of Verma allowed the Aussies to put a stranglehold on the Indian batting. Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 49 and Rodrigues 29 helped India to get to a respectable and as they proved later, a winning total of 4-132.

With two points in the bag, India will now look to further consolidate their position when they face Bangladesh on February 24 in Perth.