The upcoming and highly awaited, Australia’s tour of India, will see the fiery rivalry between the two sides come under the spotlight for the fourth time this year. After 3 one-off games, the two sides, this time around are set for an action-packed 5-match Twenty20 Internationals (T20I) bilateral series. Below we’ve prepared a report on Australia’s previous tours of India.
Australia 5-match T20I tour of India, 2012
India Lost by 29 Runs: 18 Mar 2012
The opening T20I match saw Australia batting first have runs from Meg Lanning (34) and Jess Duffin (67) to help Australia post 138/4 on board. India in reply had starts from Mithali Raj (11) and skipper, Anjum Chopra (24), while Harmanpreet Kaur top scored with 57 in India closing out on 109/8. Lisa Sthalekar topped the wickets column with 3 to her name in Australia’s 29-run win in the opening game.
India Lost by 8 Wickets: 19 Mar 2012
The 2nd T20I saw India batting first have runs from openers, Amita Sharma (28) and skipper, Anjum Chopra (33), and late runs from Mithali Raj (18) and Veda Krishnamurthy (15) pushed India’s total to 111/3. Australia in reply again had the same pair of Meg Lanning (40) and Jess Duffin (68*) seal the game for the side in 17.2 overs with 8 wickets in hand.
India Lost by 63 Runs: 21 Mar 2012
The 3rd T20I saw Australia batting first have openers, Meg Lanning (42) and Alyssa Healy (90) provide the team with a comforting start that Alex Blackwell closed out with a 14* which helped Australia post 151/2 on board. India in reply lost their top 5 for single-digit scores and repair work from keeper-batter, Sulakshana Naik (34) and Reema Malhotra (32) helped India see off a horrifying collapse. Key architects in Australia’s 63-run were Sarah Coyte and Ellyse Perry who’d struck 3 and 2 wickets respectively.
India Lost by 10 Wickets: 22 Mar 2012
In the 4th T20I, India batting first had Harmanpreet Kaur top score with 32(41), and starts from Anjum Chopra (16), Veda Krishnamurthy (11) and Shubhlakshmi Sharma (10) pushed India to finish on 85. Australia in reply had openers, Alyssa Healy (54) and Meg Lanning (30) in 12.2 overs seal the win for their side with all 10 wickets in hand.
India Won by 8 Wickets: 23 Mar 2012
In the 5th T20I, Australia elected to bat first but put on a poor show as opener, Leah Poulton (30) top scored for the side and late runs from the lower-middle order pushed Australia’s total to 89. Jhulan Goswami’s 5-fer impacted in Australia’s stunning collapse and India’s Amita Sharma with her 47-ball-55 sealed the win for India in 14.3 overs of play.
Australia’s Tri-Series in India, 2018
India Lost by 6 Wickets: 22 Mar 2018
India batting first had Smriti Mandhana (67) top score and hold the side’s innings together and Anuja Patil’s quickfire (21-ball-35) powered India to finish on 152/5. Australia in reply had opener, Beth Mooney (45) provide the team with a set platform that Meg Lanning and Elyse Villani made the most of with respective scores of 35* and 39 in securing a 6-wicket win for their side with 11 balls to spare.
India Lost by 36 Runs: 26 Mar 2018
In the 2nd face-off, Australia batting first had opener, Beth Mooney top score for the side with a 46-ball-71, and Elyse Villani’s 42-ball-61 finish powered Australia to finish on 186/5. India in reply had opener, Jemimah Rodrigues (50) top score for the side, and early wickets got Harmanpreet Kaur and Anuja Patil to the middle. The pair scored 33 and 38* respectively in India’s 36-run defeat.
It by far has been Australia’s dominance on Indian soil, but times have now changed and India in the recent past have managed to hand mini-upsets to Australia. The growing rivalry between the two sides will now be on display and a possible major upset isn’t far from reality.