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Poonam stars as India beat Australia

By The Assam Tribune

SYDNEY, Feb 21: Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women�s T20 World Cup here on Friday.

Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team�s favour.

Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs.

�A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players,� India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match. Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.

The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance. The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.

India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.

�It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team,� said Poonam at the post-match presentation. Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.

However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six. Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia�s chase. Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn�t get any support from the other end.

Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.

Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.

SCOREBOARD

India: Shafali Verma c Sutherland b E Perry 29, Smriti Mandhana lbw b Jonassen 10, Jemimah Rodrigues lbw b Delissa Kimmince 26, Harmanpreet Kaur st Healy b Jonassen 2, Deepti Sharma not out 49, Veda Krishnamurthy not out 9; Extras: (W-6, NB-1) 7. Total: (4 wkts in 20 overs) 132. Fall of Wickets: 41-1, 43-2, 47-3, 100-4. Bowler: Molly Strano 2-0-15-0, Ellyse Perry 3-0-15-1, Megan Schutt 4-0-35-0, Jess Jonassen 4-0-24-2, Delissa Kimmince 4-0-24-1, Ashleigh Gardner 3-0-19-0.

Australia: AJ Healy c & b Poonam Yadav 51, BL Mooney c Gayakwad b Pandey 6, MM Lanning c Bhatia b Gayakwad 5, RL Haynes st Bhatia b Poonam Yadav 6, A Gardner c & b Pandey 34, EA Perry b Poonam Yadav 0, JL Jonassen c Bhatia b Poonam Yadav 2, A Sutherland st Bhatia b Pandey 2, DM Kimmince run out 4, M Strano run out 2, M Schutt not out 1. Extras 2 (lb 1, nb 1). Total: (all out in 19.5 overs) 115 . Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-55, 3-67, 4-76, 5-76, 6-82, 7-101, 8-108, 9-113, 10-115. Bowling: DB Sharma 4-0-17-0, RS Gayakwad 4-0-31-1, S Pandey 3.5- 3-3.65- 3, A Reddy 4-0-33-0, Poonam Yadav 4-0-19-4. � Agencies

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