NEWS
Follow UsIndia Women and Australia Women have made a habit of playing nail-biters in recent times, and the two sides played out yet another humdinger of a contest in Sharjah on October 13 (Sunday).
Australia won the toss, batted first and posted a healthy 151 but India came within touching distance of the target, eventually just falling short of the total by nine runs.
Since 2022, these two sides have now had four separate T20Is that have had a victory margin less than 10 runs, with Australia triumphing on all four occasions. There was also a tie in a bilateral game in Mumbai in December 2022 in which India secured a sensational victory in the super over.
Speaking in the aftermath of the nail-biter in Sharjah, Australia’s stand-in skipper Tahlia McGrath admitted that, on current form, India-Australia might just be the best rivalry in women’s cricket.
“That's a really good question, I think that the England-Australia rivalry has got the history behind it. The Ashes has been around for ages but yeah most recently it's that India Australia rivalry I think [which has been the best]. It's because every game we play comes down to the wire,” McGrath said after the India clash.
“They're always hard fought and there's always crucial moments in there, there's always a bit of controversy in the games and I think the thing about playing against India is the crowd comes into it and that plays a huge role.
“It always feels like it's a high stakes enormous game, you got to ride the wave with the crowd and yeah I'm not sure which rivalry is bigger, but yeah, whenever it's an India-Australia game, everyone shows up and it's always a cracker of a game.”
Reflecting on the game, McGrath reckoned that it was the 17th over bowled by Megan Schutt in the chase that proved to be the true turning point in the clash. With India needing 41 off four overs, the experienced Schutt bowled an astonishing over where she conceded a solitary run despite bowling four of the six balls to the well-set Harmanpreet Kaur.
“For me it was Schutt’s over that was very crucial for us,” she said of the defining moment of the contest.
“She bowled outstanding. She'd nailed her plan and that swung the game right back in our favour so that was a really crucial moment in the game for us. And then yeah all the bowlers were really clear on their plans and got the job done and Belsey's last over as well was outstanding.”
McGrath, who on the night became the fastest Australian in history to 1000 WT20I runs, also lavished praise on Annabel Sutherland, who held her nerve and bowled a stunning final over. With India needing 14 off the final over, Sutherland conceded just three runs, with four wickets falling in the final six balls.
“Yeah she's so composed. She knew her plan and she executed beautifully,” McGrath said of Sutherland.
“I asked her after how her heart rate was and she goes, ‘I was fine, I was chill’. That just shows the type of maturity that Belsey has. She's been in those big moments and delivered for us time and time again. She was huge for us today and yeah, very cool under pressure.”
Incumbent skipper Alyssa Healy did not play the India clash due to injury, and her participation in the rest of the tournament is still in doubt. McGrath said she’ll leave any news regarding Healy’s fitness ‘to the doctors’.
“We've got a couple of days now. I'm going to leave that in the hands of our doctors to yeah get to work on her. I'll fingers crossed that they can, she can be available but we'll know more in the next couple of days and how that plays out,” the stand-in skipper said.
By beating India, Australia became the first team in this WT20WC 2024 to qualify for the semi-finals. They’ve now made the semis of all nine editions.
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