Australia Women 157 for 7 (Gardner 52*, Harris 37, Renuka 4-18) beat India Women 154 for 8 (Harmanpreet 52, Shafali 48, Jonassen 4-22) by three wickets
A skyrocketing asking-rate that had Australia needing 89 off the last 10 overs eventually turned into a cruise. Harris, who was batting in a T20I for the first time since 2016, smashed 37 off 20 balls, while Gardner stayed unbeaten on 52 off 35 to give Australia a winning start in pursuit of their maiden gold medal.
India’s spinners prove ineffective
Apart from Deepti Sharma, every other India spinner was extremely expensive. Left-armer Radha Yadav, in particular, struggled on a pitch that did not offer the kind of bite that she thrives on. When she pitched short, Harris targeted the square boundaries on both sides of the wicket, and when she went full, Harris stepped out and powered the ball straight down the ground. The other left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad also suffered, going for 24 runs in two overs. Thriving against spin, Harris and Gardner raised their 50-run partnership off 31 balls and put the pressure right back on India.
Australia just keep coming
India broke that damaging partnership off the last ball of the 13th over, when Harmanpreet Kaur ran sideways to catch Harris, leaving Australia with 55 to get off 42 balls with only four wickets in hand. The moment should have galvanised India; instead it spurred Australia on. The No. 8 Alana King demonstrated their batting depth, smacking three boundaries in her unbeaten 18 off 16 balls. When Gardner brought up her half-century, Australia were just three away from victory, and King clattered the winning boundary through midwicket off the final ball of the 19th over.
Renuka’s dream spell
Renuka doesn’t have much pace; she relies on accuracy, swing and subtle variations off the pitch. With her second ball, she had the formidable Alyssa Healy poking to second slip. Renuka then had Meg Lanning caught at point for 8; the batter’s indecision between playing a full-blooded cut or a gentle push proving to be her undoing. After Beth Mooney chopped on for 10 and Tahlia McGrath lost her leg stump to one that cut back in, Renuka had taken four wickets in her first 13 balls. At that stage, India were favourites to win, despite not scoring as much as they should have.
Smriti shines, briefly
India had made a promising start before their innings unravelled. Let off in the second over by Haynes, Smriti Mandhana stepped out of her crease repeatedly to negate any swing at Edgbaston. She drove through the covers, lofted the spinners, and pulled in front of square to race to 24 off 16 balls, but eventually nicked Darcie Brown to the wicketkeeper in the fourth over.
After a slight role-reversal, where she played second fiddle to Mandhana early on, Shafali Verma showed signs of her destruction in the sixth over when she shovelled Megan Schutt down the ground for her second four. Then, as if to show there’s more to her game, she tickled legspinner King nicely behind her for another boundary. Yet, there was a sense that Shafali was yet to fully break the shackles. But before she could, Australia reprieved her thrice. Between the reprieves, though, there was brute bottom-handed power on display. From 11 off 13, Shafali finished with 48 off 33 when she was out to a leg-side strangle by left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen.
Harmanpreet’s impressive leg-side range
It’s one thing knowing Harmanpreet loves the leg side, and another to plan for it. Australia knew they had to have multiple fielders to cut off boundaries, yet couldn’t do much as they saw Harmanpreet sweep, pull, heave and flick and paddle her way to a 34-ball 52, the top score score of the innings. Even as Harmanpreet threatened to take India past 170, Jonassen kept chipping away at the wickets to finish with 4 for 22, and India managed just 39 off the last five overs to finish with 154.
Shashank Kishore is a senior sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
