ICC Women's T20I World Cup: India vs Australia - 5 talking points from the Women in Blue's victory

The Women’s T20 World Cup kicked off in Australian today, with the hosts taking on India in the opening game. The India eves, on the back of exceptional bowling from Poonam Yadav and Shikha Pandey, beat the defending champions by 17 runs. Here we look at the five talking points from the game.

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#5 The controversial no-ball

It was a day to remember for Poonam Yadav, who turned the game on its head with an incredible display of leg-spin bowling. She picked four wickets and came very close to registering a five-wicket haul as well as a hat-trick, but poor umpiring had other plans.

Yadav bowled Ashleigh Gardner through her legs, but the third umpire adjudged it a no-ball. Replays showed the ball had a double bounce and then turned in. This led to debates on social media. Many argue that the judgement was unfair but the ICC rules state that –

The umpire shall call and signal No ball if a ball which he considers to have been delivered, without having previously touched the bat or player either:

(i) Bounces more than twice or

(ii) Rolls along the ground

(iii) Before it reaches the popping crease.

Nevertheless, the leg-spinner enjoyed an incredible game and was the standout performer of the game.

#4 Alyssa Healy’s return to form

Australia v India - ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup

While most of the headlines were grabbed by the Indian women, Australia’s Alyssa Healy’s personal performance stood out in the hosts’ shoddy overall performance. In the games she played in the build-up to the World Cup, she has scores of nine, one, duck, one, four, nine. But on the main day, she returned to form.

Her batting put India's bowlers on the back foot for quite some time during the game. The 29-year-old smashed a 35-ball 51 laced with six fours and one six at a strike rate of 147. Healy displayed a fearless brand of cricket and stayed on the crease until the 10th over when Poonam Yadav finally sent her back.

Healy is one of the biggest names in women’s cricket and her return to form will be a sigh of relief for the hosts, who will be looking to get back to winning ways soon.

She has the experience of playing 107 T20Is for Australia, from which she has 1444 runs.

#3 Shikha Pandey’s 3-14

Australia v India - ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup

Poonam Yadav was well supported by pacer Shikha Pandey, who took three wickets 14 runs in her quota of four overs. At one point, it looked like Ashleigh Gardner would take away the game from the visitors, but Pandey removed her on 34 runs, which was also the turning point of the game.

After Gardner’s wicket, the remaining six Aussies together managed to score only 10 runs before being bowled out for 115 runs in 19.5 overs. The 30-year-old is among the experienced players in the squad and will be crucial to India’s journey in the coveted tournament.

“It’s a format the batsmen dominates. My focus is on bowling good balls, dot balls. If a good ball gets hit, let it be. You are bound to get hit. This is something I have worked on,” Pandey had said in an interview before the match.

Shikha has played 46 T20Is for India, from which she has 32 wickets.

#2 Deepti Sharma’s resilience

Australia v India - ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup

On a day when India’s famed batting line-up disappointed, it was Deepti Sharma who rose to the challenge in a high-pressure situation. India had just lost three wickets for six runs when the all-rounder walked in at No. 6. But she was not daunted by pressure and kept taking as many singles as possible to take India to a target of 132.

Earlier, Smriti Mandhana (10) and Harmanpreet Kaur (2) failed to perform, causing panic among fans. Shafali Verma began well, scoring a 15-ball 29, before being caught by Sutherland off Perry.

Jemimah Rodrigues also contributed with a 33-ball 26, but it was Deepti who steadied the ship when wickets were falling at the drop of a hat. The 22-year-old will take a lot of confidence from this performance into the matches that are to follow.

Deepti has represented India in 44 T20Is, from which she has 49 wickets at an economy of a little over 5 runs per over.

#1 The magnificent support from the fans

Australia v India - ICC Women's T20 Cricket World Cup

It is not often that the crowd makes for a talking point after the game but this time around, it did. The crowd of 13,432 has been the best for a standalone women's cricket match in Australia ever. With this one being the first game of the tournament, and with the crowd turning up in large numbers, women’s cricket is definitely no longer adjunct to men’s cricket.

The 2017 ODI World Cup was when women’s cricket turned a corner. A large number of crowd would turn up at the games in England and the television viewership was also high. In the World Cup editions prior to that, there was no television telecast because broadcasters weren’t too confident about the viewership and revenue for women’s cricket.

But things have changed now and this time, not only is there television viewership but also live streaming on OTT platforms like Hotstar. Women’s cricket can finally be seen on the same level with men’s cricket. All it always needed was media attention.