Sunday, February 15 turned out to be a memorable day for Indian cricket, with two teams already achieving victories. It started in Bangkok where Radha Yadav’s is India Women A beat Pakistan Women A by eight wickets in the Rising Stars Asian Cup. The dominant win set the tone for what followed.
Soon after, senior party Harmanpreet Kaur joined the celebrations in Australia. India Women beat Australia by 21 runs via DLS in the first of the three T20Is to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Rain played a decisive role in the competition. When play was suspended, India were comfortably ahead of DLS par by a score of 29, effectively sealing the result once the conditions did not improve. A single rain break proved enough for India to secure victory.
AUS-W vs IND-W 1st T20I Highlights
With India Women A and India Women already triumphant, the focus now shifts to the men’s team. They will take on Pakistan in a high-stakes T20 World Cup clash at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, aiming to complete a perfect 3-0 for Indian cricket on Sunday.
ARUNDHATI ROCKS OF AUSTRALIA
Australia Women endured a stop-start innings and were bowled out for 133 in 18 overs after failing to build a lasting partnership. The opening batsmen hurt them as Beth Mooney fell for 5, while Georgia Voll’s brisk 18 off 10 balls briefly added momentum. Phoebe Litchfield hit 26 off 19 and Ellyse Perry added a quickfire 20 off 11 to help Australia race to 68 for three in eight overs.
However, their progress was stopped by regular goals. Ashleigh Gardner managed just 4 and although Georgia Wareham struck with a lively 30 off 19 balls, Australia lost wickets in bunches. From 121 for five, they slumped to 133, losing the last five wickets for just 12 runs.
Arundhati Reddy was the standout with four for 22 while Renuka Singh and Shree Charani took two wickets each to keep Australia in check. Despite flashes of aggression, Australia struggled for stability and failed to bat their full quota of overs.
SHAFALI PUTS INDIA AHEAD
India got off to a quiet start, scoring 18 runs in the first three overs while keeping wickets. The momentum shifted in the fourth over when Shafali Verma opened the attack off Nicola Carey and collected 15 runs to put the pressure back on the opposition.
Smriti Mandhana then joined forces with Jemimah Rodrigues to take on Sophie Molineux and hit three boundaries in the next over as India went past the DLS score par. Shafali’s brisk 21 off 11 balls set the tone before she fell for 33.
Mandhana remained unbeaten on 16 while Rodrigues’ cameo of 9 off 3 ensured India were comfortably placed at 50 for 1 when the rain hit, securing a confident and commanding performance.
India Women will be looking to continue their winning run when they take part in the second T20I on Thursday, February 19 at the Manuka Oval in Canberra.
A brief score
Australia women: 133 all out in 18 overs. Georgia Wareham (30), Phoebe Litchfield (26); Arundhati Reddy (4/22), Renuka Singh (2/14)
India women: 50/1 in 5.1 overs (DLS target: 30). Shafali Verma (21), Smriti Mandhana (16*); Sophie Molineux (1/13), Darcie Brown (0/10)
Result: India Women beat Australia Women by 21 runs (DLS Method)
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Issued by:
sabyasachi chowdhury
Published on:
February 15, 2026