ICC Women’s World Cup 2017: Australia Thrashes India Despite Punam Raut’s Ton
Jul 13, 2017 at 11:06 AM
After starting off the World Cup with four consecutive victories, the Indian Women find themselves in a spot of bother after losing their 2nd match on a trot against the mighty Aussies. The Australian women displayed tremendous professionalism by brushing aside the resurgent Indian side by eight wickets and with nearly five overs to spare.
The Aussie skipper Meg Lanning won the toss and put the Women in Blue into bat first. Smriti Mandhana who played a couple of great knocks in the opening two matches got out pretty cheaply, as the Indians were reduced to 9/1 in the 4th over. Her partner Punam Raut then slowly started rebuilding the innings with the captain Mithali Raj at the other end.
They scored at a below par run rate and was unable to find the gaps at will. They struggled their way to 39/1 in the first 15 overs. Raut executed some brilliant shots in the middle overs and kept on rotating the strike. Mithali Raj was troubled quite a few times by the Aussie bowlers but the experienced batswomen proved her mettle and kept on grinding for her runs.
Meanwhile, Mithali Raj went on to become the first woman in the history of the game to notch up 6000 ODI runs when she came dancing down the track and deposited Kristen Beams for a huge six straight over her head. Courtesy some boundaries towards the later part of the innings the Blue brigade reached 164/1 at the end of 40 overs.
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With nine wickets in hand, they were expected to go all guns blazing in the last 10 overs but it didn’t quite pan out the way India wanted. Mithali Raj was dismissed in the 41st over, as Harmanpreet Kaur receded on to the crease and after hitting a couple of boundaries the hard-hitting batswoman too followed her captain to the dressing room.
They kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and eventually ended their allotted 50 overs with the score at 226/7. While Punam Raut smashed a sensational century and was dismissed on 106, captain Mithali Raj smashed a well composed 69. The pick of the Aussie bowler was Ellyse Perry who finished with impressive figures of 2/37.
Nicole Bolton and Beth Mooney began pretty well and struck some exquisite shots in the mandatory powerplay. The duo smashed a couple of boundaries each in the first 10 overs, as the Aussies reached 34/0 in the first 10 overs. Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht conceded three boundaries on a trot in the 11th over, as Nicole Bolton looked in ominous touch.
Poonam Yadav got India’s first breakthrough, as Nicole Bolton was dismissed on 36. She struck fours during her well-crafted innings. Captain Meg Lanning walked out in the middle and smashed a couple of boundaries in the very first over. It was a brilliant display of batsmanship by the captain, as she made light work of the Indian bowlers.
Meanwhile, Deepti Sharma ran out Beth Mooney with Australia’s score reading 103. Lanning and Perry played pretty well in the middle overs and played themselves in. Lanning played some big shots to bring down the calculation to touching distance. At the end of the 40th over Australia had already reached 195 and it seemed the target was now just a formality.
The two women continued their tremendous work and finished off the target in the first delivery of the 46th over. With Australia brushing aside India, the tournament now lies in the balance. India is currently standing in the 4th position with Australia grabbing the 2nd spot after Wednesday’s victory. India will face Sri Lanka in their last group game and it will be a must win encounter for them if they have to qualify for the semi-finals.
Brief Scores
India Women 226/7 in 50 overs (Punam Raut 106, Mithali Raj 69, Elysse Perry 2/37)
Australia Women 227/2 in 45.2 overs (Meg Lanning 76, Elysse Perry 60, Poonam Yadav 1/46)
Australia Women won by 8 wickets
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