Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur struck a breezy half-century to steer India to a decent 154 for 8 against Australia in the opening Group A game of the Commonwealth Games, here on Friday.
Harmanpreet smashed 52 off 34 balls with eight fours and a six while opener Shafali Verma played an attacking knock of 48 off 33 balls.
Smriti Mandhana (25 off 17 balls) also started well but couldn’t convert that into a substantial knock.
Left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (4/22) was the pick of the Australian bowlers.
Brief Scores:
India 154/8 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 52, Shafali Verma 48, Jess Jonassen 4/22) vs Australia.
Teams:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Radha Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Meghna Singh (debut), Renuka Thakur.
Australia: Alyssa Healy (wk), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (c), Tahlia McGrath, Rachael Haynes, Ashleigh Gardner, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.
