The Indian and Australian women's teams faced off in a T20 World Cup match at the Sydney Showground on February 21, 2020. Australia won the toss and decided to field first against India.
India reached a total of 132 for the loss of 4 wickets, bolstered by Shafali Verma's quick 29 (15), Jemimah Rodrigues' 26 (33), and a steady 49 (46) from Deepti Sharma. Meanwhile, Jess Jonassen was a threat for Australia, taking the wickets of Smriti Mandhana and captain Harmanpreet Kaur.
India put on a clinical performance in Sydney, knocking down the defending world champions in front of their home crowd. Despite a half-century from Alyssa Healy, she was eventually dismissed by Poonam Yadav, after which the Indian bowlers completely tightened their grip. Top-order batters Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning, and Rachael Haynes all struggled, falling for under 10 runs each.
Ashleigh Gardner provided some resistance with 34 runs from 36 balls before Shikha Pandey took her wicket. Pandey stole the spotlight with a hat-trick, while Yadav ended the match with a total of four wickets. Adding to the precision, keeper Taniya Bhatia completed a sharp stumping off a delivery from Poonam.
The defending champions, Australia, were bowled out for 115 in 19.5 overs. Looking ahead, the Indian women's team is scheduled to take on Bangladesh on February 24 as part of the 2020 World Cup.