Women's T20 WC: Renuka, Deepti restrict Australia to 151/8 in crucial encounter

Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma scalped two wickets each to restrict Australia to 151/8 in a must-win clash in the Women's T20 World Cup at Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Sunday.

India suffered a setback before the start of play as Asha Sobhana suffered a knee injury during the warm-up on the sidelines of the toss. Radha Yadav replaced her in the playing 11 after Australia's captain agreed to match referee's request for a late change.

The other change in India's side was Pooja Vastrakar, who replaced S. Sanjana while Australia were without their regular captain Alyssa Healy (injured) and Tayla Vlaeminck (ruled out), who were replaced by Grace Harris and Darcie Brown.

Opting to bat first, Australia did not get the desired start in the powerplay as Renuka Singh, Shreyanka Patil and Pooja Vastrakar bowled tight lengths on slow and low Sharjah wicket.

Grace Harris started Australia's scoring with a four towards point off Renuka on the second ball of the innings. Harmanpreet introduced Shreyanka in the second over and the move worked as bowled four dot balls to Beth Mooney while giving just two runs.

In the next over, Mooney, who was under pressure, tried to flex her arms but only found Radha towards the backward point. On the next ball, Renuka trapped Georgia Wareham in front of the wickets to clinch her second scalp on successive balls. Stand-in captain Tahlia McGrath joined Grace in the middle.

Pooja bowled the fourth over of the innings and gave six runs off it before Renuka returned for her third over in the powerplay.

In the final over of the field restriction, Grace struck Shreyanka for four on the first ball but the all-rounder finished well with just seven off it. Australia were 37/2 after 6 overs.

Arundhati Reddy came into attack for the seventh over and kept the pressure on Australian batters. However, Tahlia and Grace hit fours off Pooja in the next over to accumulate 10 from it.

Deepti Sharma started with a tight over to restrict Australia to 65/2 at the halfway mark. Meanwhile, Tahlia became the fastest Australian women's player to complete 1000 T20I runs. He completed the feat in 37 innings, one short of Meg Lanning.

In the 11th over, Renuka returned to attack and completed her quota of four overs with figures of 2-24. The Australia duo stitched a 62-run crucial partnership for the third wicket before Radha broke the stand. Harmanpreet Kaur dropped Tahlia for 31 off Radha at extra-cover in the 12th over before she finally got her out two balls later in the same over. Ellyse Perry came in to bat at No. 5 as Australia were 80/3 after 12 overs.

Grace switched gears in the 13th over and hit two fours off Arundhati to add 11 from the over. Deepti finally gave some respite to India as she removed Grace for 40 in the 14th over. Ashleigh Gardner had a very short stint in the middle as Pooja sent her back to the pavilion in the 15th over.

Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse kept the scoreboard ticking in the final overs. Ellyse took charge on her shoulders and struck Shreyanka for a four and six on consecutive balls to add 14 from the 16th over.

With Litchfield and Ellyse in the middle, Australia added 17 runs in the next two overs before Deepti removed the latter for 32 off 23 including two fours and a six in the penultimate over.

Australia lost two more wickets in the final over bowled by Shreyanka before Litchfield finished the innings with a six to post 151/8 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Australia 151/8 in 20 overs (Grace Harris 40, Tahlia McGrath 32, Ellyse Perry 32; Renuka Singh 2-24, Deepti Sharma 2-28) against India.