Poonam guided India to a 17-run win over Australia in the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 on Friday. She returned figures of 4 for 19.
Poonam Yadav celebrates after picking a wicket at the Sydney Showdown Stadium against Australia in the opening match of the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2020. India beat Australia by 17 runs. (Photo: Twitter/@T20WorldCup)
Acknowledging the brilliance of India spinner Poonam Yadav, Australia wicketkeeper-batswomen Alyssa Healy gave the full credit to the leggie saying that she bowled “quite cleverly”.
Notably, Poonam guided India to a 17-run win over Australia in the opening match of the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup 2020 on Friday. She returned figures of 4 for 19 to help India defend a low target of 133 runs.
“We didn’t chase as smartly as we have done in the past. Full credit to Poonam, she bowled quite cleverly tonight,” said Healy as quoted by IANS.
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“She bowled that first over as a regulation leg-spinner and then slowed it up, so we probably didn’t adapt to that well enough.
“We just didn’t play her well and lost our way in the middle. You’re not going to chase down a total too many times if only two batters get out of double figures.
“We couldn’t build a partnership, and that’s probably where we fell away. Most of the wickets that fell were batters playing across the line, so we’ll have a look at that and adapt to conditions a bit better,” she added.
At one point in time, Poonam was on a hat-trick as she had dismissed Rachael Haynes and Ellyse Perry in successive deliveries. She even managed to get the outside edge of Jess Jonassen on her hat-trick ball but wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia failed to catch the ball.
Poonam was declared the Player of the Match. Her performance must also be viewed in the context of she making a comeback in the international stage after suffering from injuries in the buildup to the tournament.
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