It wasn’t as easy as the scorecard says it is because chasing 170 in a women’s T20I is as difficult as chasing 200 plus in a men’s game. But local lady Tahlia McGrath who had already picked up three wickets with the ball had other ideas and played a blinder of a knock at her home ground Adeliade Oval to get Australia Women to the target of 170 with three overs remaining.
The Aussies started cautiously only with skipper Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy adding 26 for the first wicket before Healy was dismissed by Sophie Ecclestone. England would have thought that it was an opening, but it wasn’t to be as McGrath who joined her captain in the middle went behind the English bowlers right from the word go.
After the two got together they didn’t give any chance to the Heather Knight led English side and recorded the highest second-wicket partnership for Australia in T20I cricket. Without losing any more wickets, the Southern Stars chased down the total courtesy of the unbeaten 144 runs stand which came in just 79 balls.
McGrath remind unbeaten on 91 off 14 balls hitting 13 fours and a six in her blistering innings while Lanning made 64 off 44.
Earlier in the evening, after being asked to bat first, England too had a great start with the bat with the opening pair of Tammy Beaumont and Danielle Wyatt adding 82 in the first 10 overs before Beaumont became Alana King’s maiden international wicket.
Nat Sciver who joined Wyatt in the middle continued the offensive and the two had already added 59 off just 38 balls and were looking dangerous before McGrath removed them both in the same over and crushed England’s hopes of going past the 180 mark.
Few boundaries at the end from Sophia Dunkley and Knight managed to get England to 169-4 at the end of their 20 overs. The two teams will now face off each other in the second T20I at the same venue on Saturday, January 22.