Cape Town: In not an ideal start to their Women's T20 World Cup preparations, the Indian Women's team faced a defeat to Australia in their first-warm match. The Women In Blue first allowed Australia to escape from a precarious 79/8 in the 16 over to post a modest 129/8 and then batted poorly to lose the match by 43 runs.
Fine rearguard innings by Georgia Wareham (32 not out) and Jess Jonassen (22 not out) helped Australia recover from a difficult situation they had landed at the Newlands. Wareham and Jonassen raised 50 runs for the unfinished ninth wicket partnership as Australia reached 129/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, India Women were bowled out for 85 in 15 overs with only three batters reaching double figures. Darcie Brown claimed 4-17 for Australia as they proved their strength and lived up to the tag as favourites to lift the title.
As so often, Australia's depth came to the fore as they got out of a hole to beat India by a comfortable margin.
Australia were reduced to 79 for eight, batting first, Shikha Pandey miserly on her way to figures of two for nine including Meg Lanning and Tahlia McGrath.
Chasing a target of 130, India quickly slumped to 22 for four, Darcie Brown the destroyer in chief with four for 17. India's innings never really got going, with Deepti Sharma their best performer, making an unbeaten 19 as they were bowled out for 86.
Earlier the Indian Women's Team made it to the finals of the Women's T20I Tri Series but lost to hosts South Africa in the summit clash. India will take on Pakistan in their first match of the competition on February 12 (Sunday).
Brief scores:
Australia 129/8 in 20 overs (Georgia Wareham 32 not out, Beth Mooney 28; Shikha Pandey 2-9, Pooja Vastrakar 2-16) beat India 86 all out in 15 overs (Deepti Sharma 19 not out, Harleen Deol 12; Darcie Brown 4-17, Ash Gardner 2-16) by 43 runs.
(With Inputs From IANS)