The Indian women’s team led by Varsha Umapathi is growing from strength to strength in their campaign for the IBSA World Games 2023 at Birmingham. They had a massive victory in their last game, beating the hosts England by a margin of 185 runs, courtesy of an all-round performance from G Neelappa, scoring 117 runs off just 60 balls with the bat and returning with the figures of (2-0-11-1) with the ball.
Indian skipper Varsha Umapathi won the toss and opted to bat first against Australia. The Indian openers got off to a good start, scoring over eight runs per over. They lost their opener, B Hansda on the last ball of the sixth over. C Lewis provided the first breakthrough for Australia. S Das joined Deepika TC at the crease but couldn’t form a substantial partnership as India lost their opener Deepika TC courtesy of a run-out.
🏆3rd Win in a Row for 🇮🇳
Indian Blind Women's Team beat Australia by a whopping 163 Runs at the ongoing World Games. #CricketTwitter #IBSA2023 pic.twitter.com/k4PB9msvAc
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) August 23, 2023
G Neelappa joined S Das at the crease and the duo took the Australian bowlers to the cleaners as they stitched a match-defining 184-run partnership for the second wicket and almost batted Australia out of the game. India ended up with a huge total of 245 runs on the board in their quota of overs.
The number three batter S Das completed her half-century in just 22 balls and stayed unbeaten on 86 off just 39 balls scoring at an impressive strike rate of 220.5. While G Neelappa, who was the game-changer in the last game completed her half-century in just 34 balls and stayed unbeaten on 69 off just 45 balls scoring at a strike rate of 153.33.
Chasing a mammoth total of 246, Australia got off to a cautious start, scoring at just over four runs per over in the powerplay. They lost the wicket of their opening batter C Lewis. Priya provided the first breakthrough for India breaking the 34-run opening partnership. Chasing a stiff total, the Australians found themselves in deep trouble at 35/4 at the halfway stage.
They suffered a mini-collapse as they lost three wickets in the space of just seven balls to derail their hopes of chasing down the total. They were eventually restricted to 82/5 in their quota of 20 overs, courtesy of a clinical performance from the bowling unit. As a result, they fell short by a massive margin of 163 runs.
CB Buakhao was the top run scorer for Australia, who stayed unbeaten on 15 off 35 balls, but couldn’t take her side closer to the Indian total. V Ravani (3-0-8-1) and S Das (2-1-5-1) were the pick of the bowlers for India. Indian Batter S Das’s all-around show, scoring an unbeaten 86 off just 39 balls with the bat and (2-1-5-1) with the ball played a crucial role in helping India seal a dominating victory against Australia as they extend their unbeaten run in the IBSA World Games 2023.