Twitter Reactions: Australia recover from 49/5 courtesy Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King to stun India in CWG opener

India suffered a bitter three-wicket loss to Australia in the first match of CWG 2022.

By Karthik Nair

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India vs Australia CWG 2022
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India vs Australia CWG 2022. (Photo by Glyn KIRK / AFP) (Photo by GLYN KIRK/AFP via Getty Images)

Australia Women registered a hard-fought three-wicket win over India in the curtain-raiser of the Commonwealth Games 2022 Women’s Cricket Competition at Edgbaston, Birmingham on Friday, July 29. Even though the Indian eves had accounted for half of the Australian batters early, the reigning T20 world champions staged a great counter-attack that nearly left the opposition shell-shocked.

Even though the Indian bowlers seemed to have lost the plot in the middle overs, it was courtesy of emerging pace sensation Renuka Singh Thakur’s four-wicket haul that kept the Aussies on the backfoot despite valiant efforts from Grace Harris and Ashleigh Gardner who went berserk as soon as the bowlers erred in line and length.

India lose the plot despite picking up five wickets

Earlier, the coin landed in the favour of the Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and she instantly decided to bat first. Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma ensured a good start for the Women in Blue before the former was dismissed just when she looked well-set at the crease. Shafali then showed fearless intent as she took on the Australian bowling attack.

She was all set for a big innings before being sent back caught behind by Alyssa Healy off Jess Jonassen scoring 48 runs off just 33 deliveries. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s finishing touches of a quickfire 34-ball 52 ensured that India finished at a respectable total of 154/8 from their 20 overs.

In reply, it seemed to be a huge mountain to climb for the Aussies when they started their run chase as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They were in total disarray after being reduced to 49/5 before Grace Harris and Ashleigh Gardner carried out the rescue act with a 51-run stand for the sixth wicket. It was indeed an act of resurrection for the Australians as the Indian bowlers ran out of fire and brimstone once Renuka Singh’s spell was over and she finished with figures of 4/18 from her four overs at an economy rate of 4.5.

Gardner and Alana King’s onslaught towards the end took the match away from India and the former remained unbeaten on 52 runs from 35 deliveries as Australia got over the line with exactly an over to spare.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to Australia’s comeback win:

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CWG Women's T20 Cricket 2022