Australia tour of India: Titas Sadhu stars as India cruise to comfortable win in first T20I

India on Friday notched only their second T20 International win over Australia on home soil after Titas Sadhu, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana guided the home side to victory in the first T20I at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Chasing 142 to win, India cruised to victory with openers Verma and Mandhana scoring half centuries and stitching together a 137-run partnership, the first by an Indian pair against Australia in T20I.

With dew a factor in Navi Mumbai, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur put Australia to bat first after winning the toss. Kaur’s decision to bowl first proved to be the right one after pacer Sadhu ran through the Australian top order.

The youngster picked up the wickets of Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath and Ashleigh Gardner with fellow pacer Renuka Singh Thakur getting rid of captain Alyssa Healey to reduce Australia to 33/4 in the opening six overs.

India were poor in the field in the One Day International series but they were superb on Friday, throwing themselves around and saving boundaries. As the runs dried up, the pressure increased on the Australian batters who went for risky shots.

Ellyse Perry and the in-form Phoebe Litchfield steadied the Australian innings, putting together a 52-ball 79-run stand. However, Litchfield missed...

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