Clinical India takes lead: Titas Sadhu, Shafali Verma star in thumping 9-wkt win over Aussies

NAVI MUMBAI: A resurgent India Women produced a spotless effort to crush Australia by nine wickets in the first T20I and take a vital 1-0 lead in the three-match series here on Friday.

After Titas Sadhu’s career-best figures of four for 17 helped India dismiss Australia for a mere 141, openers Smriti Mandhana (54) and Shafali Verma (64 not out off 44 balls) tore into the visitor with a 137-run stand to deliver an outstanding win for their side at the DY Patil Stadium.

Having missed the last two ODIs against Australia, Shafali stroked her way to her fifth half-century in T20Is, smashing six fours and three sixes with commanding strokes all around the park.

Mandhana too was in her elements, hitting her 27th fifty overall and seventh against Australia, a knock studded with seven fours and a six.

The openers separated only when they were one hit away from getting over the line, but not before etching India’s second-best stand for the first wicket.

India finished the match in 17.4 overs, and it was also its biggest win over Australia by margin of wickets.

Sadhu was not the only Indian to enjoy the high of an individual milestone — for she produced the second-best figures for any Indian bowler in T20Is against Australia after Jhulan Goswami’s 5 for 11 over a decade ago.

Mandhana became only the second Indian batter after skipper Harmanpreet Kaur — and sixth overall in women’s T20Is — to have crossed the 3,000-run mark.

Chasing a modest 142, India made quite an eccentric start, logging in 14 runs in the first over but none coming off the bat.

Shafali immaculately cracked a four through cover off Megan Schutt off the first ball she faced.

Mandhana too cashed in on a short ball from Annabel Sutherland to smack it over midwicket for the first six of the innings to get going.

Earlier, Sadhu’s four-for was complemented well by Deepti Sharma’s 2/24 and Shreyanka Patil 2/19 as India restricted Aussies to a below-par total.

While Sadhu rocked Australia with a three-wicket opening burst, Phoebe Litchfield (49) and Ellyse Perry (37) led the fightback for the visitor with a 79-run stand for the fifth wicket.

However, Australia, which lost wickets in clusters on either side of that stand, was bowled out in 19.2 overs.

Sadhu returned 3-0-8-3 in her first spell in the powerplay, accounting for Beth Mooney (17), Tahlia McGrath (0) and Ashleigh Gardner (0).

The 19-year-old right-arm pacer then returned for her final over — 18th of the innings — and found further success dismissing Annabel Sutherland (12) for her fourth scalp.

Having topped the batting chart in the ODIs, the left-handed Litchfield carried her form into the shortest format but fell short of a fifty.

BRIEF SCORES: Australia 141 in 19.2 overs (P Litchfield 49, T Sadhu 4/17) lost to India 145/1 in 17.4 overs (S Verma 64, S Mandhana 54).