During the historic first Women’s T20I of the Commonwealth Games, Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Aussie wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy created some top records.
In the first Women’s T20I match of the CWG 2022 (Birmingham 2022), India Women faced Australia Women in the Group A encounter.
India Women captain Harmanpreet Kaur chose to bat first after winning the toss. They scored 154/8 in 20 overs. While the skipper scored 52 off 34 balls, opener Shafali Verma scored 48 off 33 balls. Aussie bowler Jess Jonassen finished with the bowling figures of 4-0-22-4.
Harmanpreet Kaur: 1st to score fifty in WT20I in CWG history; 1st Indian to score 500 runs against one team in Women’s T20I
The 33-year-old right-handed batter Harmanpreet became the first cricketer to score a fifty in Women’s T20I in CWG history. Aussie cricketer Ashleigh Gardner became the second cricketer on this list with her heroic half-century in the next innings.
After that innings, Harmanpreet scored 526 runs in 22 innings against Australia Women in WT20I. She became the first Indian cricketer in WT20I history to score 500 or more runs against a team. The opener Smriti Mandhana is in the second position in the list of most runs by an Indian against a team in WT20I history with 489 runs in 15 innings against Australia Women.
Also Read | Cricket Schedule at the Commonwealth Games 2022
Alyssa Healy created a new world record in the T20 international
During the first innings of that game, Australian wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy completed her 100 WT20I dismissals as a wicketkeeper as she has now recorded 101 dismissals (47 catches and 54 stumpings) in 112 WT20I innings as the glove-woman. She is the first wicketkeeper in T20 international history (men+women) to record 100 dismissals.
Former Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni is in the second position in the list of most dismissals in T20 internationals (men+women) with 91 dismissals in 97 T20I innings (57 catches and 34 stumpings).
Australia were struggling on 49/5 but still chased the target
In reply, Australia Women were struggling on 49/5 in 7.2 overs. But Ashleigh Gardner’s 52 not out off 35 balls, Grace Harris 37 off 20 balls and Alana King’s 18 not out off 16 balls helped the Aussies to claim a memorable victory. They chased the target in 19 overs after losing seven wickets.
Though Renuka Singh took the first four wickets in that second innings and had the bowling figures of 4-0-18-4, the Indian team failed to secure a win.
