Renuka Singh laments after being defeated by Australia in CWG 2022 opener
Renuka Singh Laments After Being Defeated By Aus: The Indian women’s cricket team had a disappointing start to the Commonwealth Games 2022. They suffered a defeat from the ODI World Champions Australia in Birmingham. India pacer Renuka Singh’s dream spell did not work. Australia came back from the verge of losing. They managed to pull off a three-wicket win in the Commonwealth Games Group ‘A’ opener.
Thanks to the splendid half-century by Harmanpreet Kaur, India scored 154 runs.
In reply to the splendid performance, Australia was reeling at 49-5. But then the team experienced a terrific turnaround. Ashleigh Gardener went on to hit a half-century. She was ably supported by Grace Harris. Harris scored 37 runs. Australia defeated team India by three wickets.
The woman who gave a hard time to the Australian top order was Renuka Singh. She handed India a massive advantage. She finished the game with splendid figures of 4 wickets for18 runs in her four overs. She became the second Indian pacer bowler after Jhulan Goswami to take four or more wickets in a T20 International.
Memorable Performance
Ashleigh Gardner’s countering attack innings registered as a memorable performance. She played with the tail to knock off the runs.
The Powerplay overs from India belonged to Renuka. She produced a brilliant spell of fast bowling. She dismissed the dangerous Alyssa Healy in the first over. She made the game interesting before getting rid of Beth Mooney and Australian skipper Meg Lanning.
Spinners Flop
A sharp in-swinger from India led to the downfall of the aggressive Tahlia McGrath. She made it 34 for four with India all over their fancied opponents.
However, India lost its momentum soon. Their premier weapons left-arm spin twins Radha Yadav (0-42 in 4 overs) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (0-24 in 2 overs) slipped away 66 in six overs. In the beginning, Shafali Verma (48 off 33) and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s (52 off 34) stroked-filled innings entertained the Edgbaston crowd. But the other batters gave a disappointing performance. India lost its way in the last five overs. Five wickets fell for 39 runs.
However, speaking to the media reporters post the defeat, Renuka Singh said that she was sad at the outcome of the opening game of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
“Actually I am not that happy as we lost the match at the end. I got confidence when I took the first wicket. We had our plans for every batter, and they worked. But they ended up playing very well, and we lost because of that,” she said.
The pacer also informed that India was a fast bowler short in the pace-friendly track of Birmingham. She said that the team missed someone like Pooja Vastrakar who would have been of great value in this track.
“We only have two pacers, and we missed Pooja in the track, as it was favoring the fast bowlers. The movement was quite good on this track,” she said.
Vastrakar missed playing in the tournament opener after contracting COVID-19.
Renuka Singh also said that the team is looking forward to turning around the result in their next match against Pakistan.
India next takes on arch-rivals Pakistan on the 31st of July. Then they will face Barbados in the final group game on August 3.
After disappointment in the first game, the Women in Blue need to win both their remaining games. This will ensure qualification to the next round of the Commonwealth Games 2022.
Highlights
- India lost the opening match by three wickets against Australia.
- Australia went on to win the game with one over to spare.
- Ashleigh Gardner remained not out at 52 runs off 35 deliveries.