In the first T20I at the DY Patil Stadium on Friday, India were 132-5 with three overs remaining and the 150-run mark looked far away.
The boisterous crowd in excess of 25,000, which was having a joyful time, was starting to feel nervous and were quiet. But then, Deepti Sharma walked in and turned the tables with a thrilling finish India. A pull and slash off Annabel Sutherland for a brace of fours was followed by pulling and slamming Ashleigh Gardner for two fours in the next over.
But the best was yet to come, which Deepti brought by smashing Megan Schutt for four successive fours in the final over, finishing with 36 not off 15 balls. Her efforts meant India made 40 runs in the last three overs and made 172-5 as the crowd got its voice and joy back.
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“For this series and from before the start of Commonwealth Games, I’ve worked quite a bit on my batting. I generally walk in when there are very little balls left in the innings. My mindset now is that I have to maximise the runs off the minimum balls available. I think those practice sessions are paying off,” said Deepti in the post-match press conference.
But her efforts went in vain as India had an off day in bowling and fielding, paving the path for Beth Mooney to smack 89 not out and share an unbroken century-stand with Tahlia McGrath to get a nine-wicket victory for Australia.
Also Read: Deepti Sharma: I like playing in pressure situations
“We think it was a very good total. But I think we could have fielded a bit better. We also gave away few loose balls. But wins and losses will happen. We had a very simple approach with our batting and bowling and we were getting results out of it. We just needed to apply better,” added Deepti.
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