The women’s T20 Cricket World Cup couldn’t have started better for the Indian team. They managed to beat Australia, the all-time favourite and current champion, by 17 runs. And, they are into the semi-finals of the competition.
The competition is taking place in Australia from February 21 to March 8. A novelty for the seventh ICC Women’s T20 World Cup tournament is the use of technology for monitoring front-foot no-balls during all the matches of the tournament.
This article will tell you everything you need to know about the surprising defeat Australia suffered, while more news on the Women’s T20 World Cup can be found at sportsadda.com.
India Defeats Australia in Opening Game of Women’s T20 World Cup
The opening match of the Women’s T20 World Cup in Sydney promises an interesting competition overall. The host of the tournament and the current champion, Australia, suffered a defeat by the Indian team in front of more than 13,000 spectators, which was a surprise for everyone who regularly follows cricket.
India was the first team to bat and it managed to score 132 runs. The Indian allrounder, Deepti Sharma, took the initiative and decided to rely on running as many singles as possible to lead India to victory. Another vital player was Poonam Yadav who claimed 4-19 and left the Australian team in awe.
Australia tried its best to come out as a winner against India but it only reached 115, which was not enough to celebrate on Friday night. Alyssa Healy seemed to be the only one in the Australian team who tried to do something to stop her team from drowning. Unfortunately, Poonam Yadav was merciless towards the Aussies.
Yadav’s game left a good impression on Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain of the team who stated that: “It’s a great feeling, you always look to win your first game as it will set the tone for you. Poonam Yadav is always good for the team, I’m happy for her as she’s had some injuries and made a good comeback.”
When it comes to Australia, the situation they are in is not favourable as they will not reach the semifinals unless they somehow manage to win all of their final three group matches. The bad news is that Australia is in group A together with Sri Lanka, New Zealand, and Bangladesh, which makes the possibility of finishing among the top four teams less likely.
UPDATE: Australia successfully entered the semi-finals of the T20 World Cup 2020 as the 2nd Team from the Group behind India.
Success of Women’s Cricket Team Not Valued in India
The fact that India defeated the favourite team in the competition was a shock to many and a reason for celebration among the whole women’s India cricket team. However, compared to the pomp that’s always present around the men’s India cricket team, very little importance was given to its female counterpart.
None of the prominent media outlets in India devoted extra time or space to praise the team’s opening-day win against Australia. They did, however, write and talk about the men’s cricket match between India and New Zealand that wasn’t of much importance at the time.
Strangely, a country where cricket is the most popular sport doesn’t pay attention to women to the same extent they do to men. Moreover, women who play cricket in India are neglected in terms of pay as well, as their salaries are not even close to the wages of male cricketers in the country.
Unfortunately, according to our resources, the inequality doesn’t stop there. Women’s cricket team in India also lacks proper sponsorship and marketing, which furthermore affects its popularity.
Hopefully, the situation will change in the future as the India women’s cricket team deserves better. If this win against Australia wasn’t pure luck and the team continues the winning streak, there is hope that India will realise the value of women’s cricket.