“I try to just embrace it, but it isn’t something that sits that comfortably with me to be honest”

Andrew McGlashan20-Nov-2022A hugely significant career in Australian cricket came to end at North Sydney Oval on Sunday.When Rachael Haynes lofted a catch to mid-off, she walked off to a standing ovation. At the end of the game both teams, and players from Sydney Sixers who had remained from their earlier match, formed a guard of honour as she carried her son, Hugo.Related

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Watched by her family, her team-mates had allowed her to run on first when their fielding stint began and Adelaide Strikers applauded her as she came into bat with Foo Fighters’ playing around the ground.”I try to just embrace it, but it isn’t something that sits that comfortably with me to be honest,” Haynes said of her farewell. “I’ve probably spent most of my career trying to avoid the limelight. But really appreciate all the effort and really grateful for the players sending me off, it’s very kind of them.”Haynes had announced her retirement in September, ending an international career that had tallied six Tests, 77 ODIs and 84 T20Is and a domestic career that started 17 years ago. She was a key member of the great Australian team that has dominated the sport in recent years. However, one of the common themes since her retirement was announced has been the impact she has had on others.”I’ve always just tried to do the right thing by people, the right thing by the programmes I’ve been part of and tried to prepare the best I could and set a good example for others around me,” she said. “When you are doing all those things you are probably a bit oblivious to the impact it’s having, but there’s been quite a few people who have reached out this week and said, ‘good luck, well done’, and it’s definitely meant a lot to me.”Everyone wants to succeed and do well, but what binds groups together and brings them back together is the success you share on field. I feel very fortunate that I’ve been able to experience that both domestically and internationally.”Rachael Haynes walks back with her son, Hugo, as she receives a guard of honour•Getty Images

Haynes wanted to complete this campaign for Sydney Thunder having not been able to play last season, but the WBBL did not turn into the farewell tour she had hoped for. Thunder ended with just one win in 14 matches and Haynes could not hit her stride with the bat.”It’s an interesting one,” she said. “I clearly didn’t have the season I’ve had in the past. I suppose [upon] reflecting [that] you just lose a bit of that competitive edge and it’s something I’ve never had to be consciously aware of in the past, I’ve always just been up and 100% on it, and I reckon this year there were probably times when I wasn’t at that same edge that you need to have at this level.”Haynes leaves an outstanding legacy to the game, with her career covering multiple eras as the sport became fully professional in Australia. Her own time in international cricket was split into two parts. It looked as though she could be done when she spent four years out of the side before returning in 2017 and shortly after captained the Ashes series in place of the injured Meg Lanning.From the point of her recall she averaged 45.07 in ODIs and 33 in T20Is with a strike rate of 126.15. Her final international match was Australia’s gold-medal victory against India at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham having added 160 for the first wicket with Alyssa Healy in the ODI World Cup final earlier in the year. She has previously picked out her innings against Sri Lanka, at Perth, during the 2020 T20 World Cup as her best.”I had mixed emotions coming into the ground today,” she said. “It’s strange, I announced it six weeks ago now and towards the end of this week when it was starting to become a bit more real, I definitely noticed myself going through different waves of emotion and being a bit teary. By the same the token I know I’m ready to walk away. But walking away from something that’s been such a big part of my life for a long time is also challenging.”She has yet to decide what comes next. There will be some WBBL commentary during finals week and then she will take the rest of the year off. But if she so chooses, Haynes has plenty more to offer cricket.

This season has felt like a real slog for Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side have had to deal with a drop in form, questionable officiating, and a mountain of injuries, which have eviscerated their frontline.

Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Gabriel Jesus and Kai Havertz are all out injured, with the last two not set to return until next season, which makes the decision not to sign anyone last month look utterly absurd.

Gabriel Jesus

ACL

22/11/2025

Takehiro Tomiyasu

Knee Surgery

06/10/2025

Kai Havertz

Hamstring

21/07/2025

Gabriel Martinelli

Hamstring

01/04/2025

Bukayo Saka

Hamstring

16/03/2025

Following the loss of Havertz earlier this month, we reckon the manager would love to have one of his former forward options back in the squad, especially as he’s won comparisons to Manchester City’s new addition, Omar Marmoush.

Havertz's pre-injury form

It would be fair to say that Havertz is a centre-forward who divides opinion.

After all, the former Chelsea ace was initially signed as a midfielder to replace Granit Xhaka in the summer of 2023.

However, while the criticisms of his finishing ability certainly hold true, as evidenced by Understat revealing he’s underperformed his expected goals by 2.76 this season, he’s been more effective than people have perhaps given him credit for this year.

Appearances

34

Minutes

2776′

Goals

15

Assists

5

Goal Involvements per Match

0.58

Minutes per Goal Involvement

138.8

For example, in 34 appearances before his injury, totalling 2776 minutes, the 25-year-old “monster,” as dubbed by writer Jake Entwistle, managed to rack up a pretty decent haul of 15 goals and five assists.

That means the Aachen-born forward was averaging a goal involvement every 1.7 games, or every 138.8 minutes, which not only makes him the Gunners’ top scorer this year but also demonstrates why his absence from the starting lineup for the rest of the campaign is such a significant concern.

It’s a problem that Arteta will have to find a solution for as soon as possible, and while he likely will, we can’t help thinking about how useful it’d be to have one of his former stars back in the team, especially as they’ve won comparisons to Marmoush of all people this year.

The former Arsenal star compared to Marmoush

Arsenal have had some brilliant strikers play for them in recent history, such as Olivier Giroud and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, but perhaps one of their most underrated number nines in the modern era was Alexandre Lacazette.

The French poacher joined the Gunners in the window before Aubameyang arrived, so his efforts in attack were often, understandably, underappreciated, as while he could be profligate and even sluggish at times, the Lyon-born star had a pretty decent record.

When he left the Emirates for free in the summer of 2023, the 33-year-old did so with 71 goals and 32 assists to his name in 206 appearances, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every other game, and considering he’s since racked up a haul of 63 goals and 12 assists in 103 appearances for Lyon, it would be fair to say he would’ve been the ideal solution to Havertz’s recent injury.

On top of his raw output, the French “goal machine,” as former teammate Sokratis described him, has been likened to one of the most exciting players in Europe this season: Marmoush.

The comparison stems from FBref, which compares players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Egyptian is the second most similar forward to the Lyon star.

Progressive Passes Received

7.52

7.52

Penalty Kicks

0.14

0.10

Goals per Shot

0.15

0.18

Passing Accuracy

70.6%

71.2%

Passes into the Penalty Area

1.45

1.44

Passes into the Final Third

1.66

1.78

Expected Assists

0.26

0.24

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, progressive passes received, penalty kicks, goals per shot, expected assists, passing accuracy, passes into the final third and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, there can be no doubt over the fact that following Havertz’s injury, Arsenal are in the midst of a crisis in attack, and while moving Lacazette on over two years ago was probably the right move, we can’t help but imagine Arteta would be feeling much better about the situation with him in his squad.

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The experienced Premier League star would be perfect for Arsenal at the moment.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Feb 28, 2025

The thrill of securing a draw in the dark may provide its own endorphin rush, but Babar Azam was lucid enough to see the bigger picture. The Pakistan captain has acknowledged his side had not met expectations during the home Test season, which came to a close with a 0-0 draw in this second Test.”The Test season hasn’t gone according to expectations,” Babar said at the post-match press conference. “It’s not an excuse but some of our players were unfit which disturbed our combination. Of course there’s talk about the pitches, but conditions are different at every venue. We give our input on pitches, but you get the pitches you get, and after that you have to execute your plans. You can’t just complain about losing a match because of pitches. We prepared them according to our plans, but results didn’t go our way.”After a 3-0 defeat to England last month, Pakistan found themselves on the back foot for large parts of both Test matches against New Zealand. On the final day of each match, the home side was happier to shake on a draw. In the first Test, New Zealand needed 77 runs with nine wickets in hand when light intervened, whereas today, the visitors needed just one wicket when the umpires whipped off the bails. Extend it further back to the series against Australia, and Pakistan have now gone eight Test matches at home without victory in a run that extends back two years.Related

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It might easily have been three successive home series defeats when Sarfaraz Ahmed was squeezed down leg side in the 87th over. It brought out Pakistan’s No. 11 Abrar Ahmed to survive a nerve-shredding final 15 minutes alongside Naseem Shah, with the pair seeing out 21 balls before it became too dark.”It’s difficult to play the new ball when the fielders are up but Naseem and Abrar held their nerve at the death,” Babar said. “The way Saifi [Sarfaraz] came back and got us out of a hole was amazing, because his partnership with [Saud] Shakeel brought us back into the match. He’s come back after four years and had a dream comeback, after waiting all those years. It was his belief that kept him going.”At the start of that session, though, it was tantalisingly poised. Sarfaraz and Saud Shakeel had added 99 for the sixth-wicket stand. New Zealand’s fast bowlers appeared to have run out of ideas, but the scoring rate for the stand stood at just under 2.25, which meant Pakistan still required 140 runs in a final session where all four results seemed possible.Babar said Pakistan were eyeing up the win at that point. “We’d planned to go after it at tea, and you have to take risks for that. At the time, we needed 4.5 [an over], for which you need to take chances, which can lead to dismissals. If we’d got out, you’d be asking very different questions. When New Zealand saw we were going for it, they opened the field up. We still took chances but then it becomes a slightly different situation.Sarfaraz, who had crossed three figures by this point, was now accompanied by Agha Salman; his strike rate was higher than any other Pakistan batter at that point. He had struck four boundaries and New Zealand were beginning to look a touch ragged in the field, a couple of misfields and the odd set of byes whittling down the target even further. However, once Matt Henry got the old ball to swing back in and beat a wild swing from Salman, the outlook changed once more.”Agha got out and then the tail came in; after that we wanted to take the game deep,” Babar said. “Saifi was in there so he was better at assessing where the game could go. When a wicket falls, building a new partnership is difficult. After our set batters got out, we knew the tail was coming, and we’ve lost our last few wickets quickly in the past.”In the end, though, pragmatism won even though Pakistan were desperate not to end the home season winless. Babar admitted the way forward from here could take time, he pointed out this Test side was “very good” until very recently, when injuries derailed them at the start of this season.It prompted him to emphasise the value of fitness in an age of relentless cricket. “We’re trying to learn from our mistakes,” Babar said. “Everyone has their own opinions but we have to focus on our performance. Forming a team takes time. Our Test side was very good, but suddenly there were a few injuries, which disturbed our players and altered the form of our side. We’ve tried to do our best but it just hasn’t worked out. We’ll look at whether to have Test specialist players in future. There’s so much cricket if you want to play all three formats you’ll have to be ultra-fit.”

MatériaMais Notícias

Após um semestre no futebol espanhol, onde defendeu o Madrid CFF, a meia-atacante VictoriaAlbuquerque está de volta ao Corinthians. O anúncio foi feito através das redes sociais do clube.

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A atleta já está no Brasil e se apresenta para treinamentos na próxima semana, junto com suas companheiras que ganharam alguns dias de folga. Vic mostrou entusiasmo em retornar ao clube que a projetou para o futebol. Ela havia deixado o Timão no início de 2022.

-Estou me sentindo em casa e muito feliz, pois sei o quanto esse clube foi e é importante na minha carreira. Espero retribuir toda essa recepção incrível dentro de campo, com meu futebol – afirmou a atleta de 24 anos.

A “Mágica”, como ficou conhecida pela torcida corintiana, revelou ter ligado para a atacante Ellen, atualmente lesionada, para poder usar novamente a camisa 17.

+ TABELA – Confira e simule os jogos do Timão no Brasileirão feminino

– Para mim essa camisa tem um significado grande, por toda a história que tive com ela. Mas, hoje o número é da Ellen e por isso conversei com ela. Liguei e pedi se poderia usar, até como uma forma de homenageá-la. É uma atleta muito talentosa, no seu primeiro ano de profissional e que com certeza voltará ainda mais forte. Ela ficou muito feliz, aceitou me ceder a camisa 17 e agora tenho essa responsabilidade por nós duas – comentou.

Contratada pelo Timão em 2019, vindo do Osasco Audax, Albuquerque já foi destaque com a camisa corintiana logo em sua primeira temporada, marcando 21 gols e dando duas assistências em 41 partidas. No total, foram 59 gols em 110 jogos pelo Timão.

Com a camisa corintiana, Victória conquistou três títulos Paulistas, em 2019, 2020 e 2021, dois Brasileiros, em 2020 e 2021, e duas Copas Libertadores, em 2019 e 2021.

The USMNT star expressed pride in his personal development after being named Norwich City's Player of the Season for the 2024/25 season

Sargent ended 2024-25 Championship season with 15 goalsAmerican credits consistent playing time for dramatic improvementAward comes despite midseason groin surgeryGetty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED

Josh Sargent was presented with Norwich City's Player of the Season award following an impressive campaign in which he scored 15 goals. That was despite missing 14 matches due to a groin injury that required surgery. The American forward opened up about the physical and mental challenges he faced over the course of his career and admitted that he’s honored to be given the Player of the Season award.

“Very good,” Sargent told Norwich City’s Grant Holt when asked how being Player of the Season sounds. “Very happy, I’m obviously extremely honored to be able to have this award, so very happy. I dealt with the same thing last season [injuries and knocks] as well, never easy getting injured like that, but to be fair, I’ve done a good job of getting myself in a position where I do get back from injury to hit the ground running.

“So huge credit to all the physios and medical team for getting me in that position, but I think I responded really well, got back hit the ground running, scoring goals again and yeah, I’ve done a good job.”

Sargent also opened up about replacing Teemu Pukki after struggling to establish himself as a first choice when he first arrived, while also playing out of position.

“Yeah, I think when I first got here it was a difficult situation, you know I was playing out on the right wing and I’m never going to say no to playing that position in the Prem. I think I was also young and not as developed as I am now, still obviously have a long way to go but for sure I think I’m a different player now compared to when I first came here.”

AdvertisementWHAT JOSH SARGENT SAID

The USMNT international also opened up about his struggles for minutes when he first arrived and how his situation has changed since becoming a starter.

“Yeah I think anybody would say when you come on for 15-20 minutes, you have to do something and it’s kind of like ‘OK the next person gets the chance or whatever’ but definitely these last two seasons of getting consistent minutes, playing striker that’s definitely developed my game and helped me gain a lot more confidence in my game and the goals are kinda flowing now,” Sargent explained.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Since arriving from Werder Bremen in 2021, Sargent's development trajectory has been remarkable. After struggling with just two goals in his debut Premier League season, he has transformed into Norwich's offensive centerpiece with 44 goals across three Championship campaigns. That includes 13 goals in the 2022-23 season, 16 in the 2023-24 season, and 15 in an injury-hit 2024-25 season.

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WHAT’S NEXT?

With the 2024-25 Championship season over for Norwich City, Sargent’s focus will be on the future as rumors have indicated that several clubs from across Europe are interested in his services.

As they attempt to get their pursuit of Champions League qualification back on track, Aston Villa could welcome the return of Leon Bailey and one other star man against Chelsea this weekend.

Aston Villa injury news

With the fixtures coming thick and fast, any positive injury news is an instant boost for the Villans, who just had their Champions League fate confirmed in the middle of a season which still has plenty of promise. Earning their place in the last 16, Unai Emery’s side will now square off against Club Brugge in what they should see as an undeniable chance to reach the final eight.

There will of course already be those in dreamland at Villa Park plotting a shock route to the Champions League final, and they have every right to imagine that dream. Emery’s side will have their feet firmly fixed on the ground, however, and will be looking ahead of Chelsea and Chelsea only.

Victory against the Blues would be coming at a crucial time – taking the Villans within a point of their London opponents and potentially within two of the top four – making recent injury news all the more positive.

As confirmed by Emery, Aston Villa could welcome the return of both Ezri Konsa and Bailey against Chelsea after both players missed his side’s last two games.

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The Spaniard told reporters when asked about Konsa: “We are going to train later. He did the composition work with the players. I will test him and in case he is feeling good he will be in the squad.”

Then confirming Bailey’s potential return, Emery said: “Leon Bailey trained yesterday and it’s the same like Konsa. In case he trains normally he will be available in the squad.”

"Confident" Konsa returning at a key time

With Axel Disasi unable to play against his parent club Chelsea this weekend and Pau Torres also still sidelined, Konsa’s potential return couldn’t be coming at a better time for Aston Villa. The Villans may have avoided the need to form a makeshift centre-back partnership and can instead roll back the years ever so slightly by turning to Tyrone Mings and Konsa together.

Konsa’s ability to fill in at right-back will also be an added boost for those at Villa Park as it has been for England in the past. Full of praise for the defender’s versatility last summer, former Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate told reporters: “We weren’t intending to move him quite as much.

“We took Lewis [Dunk] off as a precaution and the best way was to put Ezri at centre-half, which I think is his strongest position anyway. That’s his third cap, he’s done very well in all three.

“That adaptability is helpful to us. He’s playing in a team that have had an extremely good season and he’s been a big part of that. He looks very confident in an England shirt.”

Tottenham Hotspur are believed to be among the many clubs contending to sign in-demand Lille striker Jonathan David on a free transfer, with the player now allegedly making a decision on his next landing spot.

Jonathan David scores for fun in France with contract running down

After June 30th, the Canada international will be free to move on to new pastures at zero cost, with his contract expiring at the end of this season.

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David, who’s scored 20 goals across 34 appearances for Lille in all competitions already this season, has entered the final few months of his career at the Ligue 1 club – which has piqued interest from a host of top European sides.

The 25-year-old Brooklyn-native stands out as, potentially, one of the summer’s biggest bargain transfers. Despite barely reaching the peak of his career, David’s already hit over a century of goals for Lille, 104 to be exact, not to mention 27 assists to go with that truly impressive tally.

The former Gent sensation’s record in front of goal speaks for itself, and while you could make a case that he hasn’t been tested in a truly elite division like the Premier League just yet, that argument can be somewhat quashed by David’s record in the Champions League.

This term, he’s managed six goals in eight Champions League outings. They’ve come against big-name opposition as well, with David bagging a brace against Atlético Madrid, grabbing Lille’s winner in a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid and even scoring at Anfield – alongside another strike against Juventus.

There is little denying that David can be considered an elite-level marksman at this point, making the prospect of signing him for nothing a very tempting proposition.

Tottenham have been linked with a move for David, as have an array of other top European clubs, with journalist Graeme Bailey now sharing a potentially important update on his future.

Jonathan David makes Tottenham transfer decision after contact

According to Bailey, writing in a piece for The Boot Room, suitors believe that David has already chosen his preferred next club.

Tottenham held talks with the player’s representatives recently, alongside Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle and West Ham, but it is Barcelona who are leading the race to sign him.

Bailey claims that David has chosen to join Barcelona over Tottenham as his preferred choice, and talks are at an advanced stage. A Barça deal for the centre-forward is said to be close, so if the Lilywhites wish to pull off a hijack, or turn the tide like they did with Mathys Tel, they’re already running out of time.

Given Barca are the team David grew up supporting, by his own admission, so Spurs could be facing an uphill battle to beat Hansi Flick’s side to his signature.

“[Barcelona] was always the team I grew up supporting,” said David in 2024. “When you grow up supporting a team, it’s a dream to play for them.”

Casemiro will reportedly receive a huge pay rise if Manchester United win the Europa League this season.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• Casemiro in line for pay rise
• Will get it if Man Utd win Europa League
• Wages will match what Ronaldo had

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Daily Star states if United win the Europa League, with Ruben Amorim's men currently in the semi-finals, Casemiro will receive a 25 per cent pay rise due to a clause in his contract. The report states that the midfielder will see his wages rise to around £500,000-a-week – which is what club legend Cristiano Ronaldo got during his second spell at Old Trafford.

Advertisement

• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While Casemiro had a good first season at United, the 33-year-old has not lived up to his hefty wages and huge £70 million ($88m) transfer fee from Real Madrid in 2022. The veteran has been heavily criticised by pundits for his displays, and it seems he is on the decline, with the club said to be keen on moving him on soon. So to potentially receive this huge wage hike would be quite telling about the Red Devils' state of affairs.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  The report states this could cause a problem for United, who may yet sell Casemiro to the Saudi Pro League, with head coach Amorim being asked to slash the wage bill by minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

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• (C)Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  Casemiro's United will hope to advance to the Europa League final this week when they host Athletic Club on Thursday with a 3-0 first-leg cushion.

With Leeds and Sheffield United seemingly running away with the automatic promotion places, West Bromwich Albion are going to have to be at the top of their game to remain in the playoff positions in the Championship as a tricky March comes into view.

It couldn’t be any more difficult for the Baggies to start the new month with a trip to table-topping Leeds up next, with another tricky away day coming shortly after in the form of Scott Parker’s defensively staunch Burnley.

Tony Mowbray will be relying on picking up wins back at the Hawthorns, therefore, but he will be without Josh Maja for the foreseeable unfortunately, with the Baggies top scorer still stricken with injury.

Josh Maja's goalscoring heroics this season

Before picking up a lower leg injury that required surgery, Maja was in the goalscoring form of his life in the West Midlands.

From 26 Championship clashes, the 26-year-old had helped himself to a blistering 12 strikes, with Mowbray no doubt gutted that his arrival on the scene after Carlos Corberan’s exit coincided with Albion’s talisman being sidelined.

The playoff hopefuls have added the likes of Adam Armstrong and Will Lankshear to their camp on loan to try and soften this immense blow, but with just one goal between them so far, it goes without saying that West Brom are a far more frightening prospect up top when the ex-Sunderland man is fit and firing.

Amazingly, there is a former Baggie who is outscoring Maja’s sizeable double digits, leading to his transfer value skyrocketing far beyond his once modest value when lining up at the Hawthorns.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast’s Where Are They Now series.

Former West Brom star is now on fire

West Brom has been home to a number of top attacking talents over the years, whether that’s via the electric loan spell of Romelu Lukaku or Peter Odemwingie lighting up the Premier League for the Baggies before his sour departure.

A certain Chris Wood won’t exactly be remembered as a great in West Brom circles, but his career definitely took off after leaving the West Midlands outfit behind.

Much like Maja, it could be said that the New Zealand attacker is a man possessed in front of goal at the moment, with the towering 6-foot centre-forward often in the right place at the right time to finish off a golden opportunity.

Wood is up to 18 goals now in the Premier League this season due to this killer instinct coming to the forefront, with his transfer value sitting at £6m according to Football Transfers, a slight fall from the £15m Forest signed him for from Newcastle but evidence, that, at the age of 33, he’s at the top of his game.

Games played since leaving

618

Goals scored

227

Assists

41

Hat tricks

8x

Value at West Brom

£830k

Value now

£6m

Sourced by Transfermarkt

West Brom must wish now they kept a stronger grip on the Auckland-born striker during the fledging parts of his career, with Wood only worth £830k by the time of his Baggies exit, having only powered home three goals in the senior ranks.

Since then, however, he’s become one of the “most efficient players in Europe’s top 5 leagues” in the words of Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley, with his £7m price-tag now meaning his valuation has shot up by 743%.

Away from their ex-striker’s rise, West Brom will hope they can fast-track Maja back to full fitness soon, with the potential there for the 26-year-old to take the Premier League by storm next season when facing off against Wood’s Forest.

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India pay for their fielding lapses as Australia take 1-0 lead in the five-match series

Srinidhi Ramanujam09-Dec-2022

Beth Mooney’s unbeaten 89 powered Australia to a nine-wicket victory against India with 11 balls to spare in the first of the five-match T20I series. Mooney and Tahlia McGrath shared an unbroken 100-run stand off 56 balls for the second wicket to steal the show after Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh’s fireworks had helped India post a competitive172 for 5.The successful chase meant Australia are yet to lose a match this year in any format. In T20Is, this was their ninth win in 12 matches, with three games producing no result.Ghosh, Deepti’s late flourish after rapid start
After being put in, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma provided a brisk start to India, with Verma hitting two fours and two sixes in her 21 off ten balls. Jemimah Rodrigues was out for a six-ball duck in the fifth over when she mistimed Ellyse Perry to mid-on. But Mandhana’s 28 off 22, despite initially struggling to time the ball, took India to 48 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.Australia pulled things back in the middle phase, with Annabel Sutherland dismissing Mandhana in the eighth over. Harmanpreet Kaur tried to steady the innings with a 23-ball 21 but was dismissed in the 12th over when she tried to loft debutant Kim Garth over cover but ended up hitting straight to the fielder.At 76 for 4, Ghosh changed the momentum of the innings, slamming 36 in just 20 deliveries with the help of five fours and two sixes. With Devika Vaidya, who was playing a T20I after eight years, Ghosh stitched together a crucial 56-run stand for the fifth wicket.After Ghosh was stumped off Ashleigh Gardner in the 17th over, Deepti went berserk straightaway. The allrounder struck two fours in each of the 18th and 19th overs before hammering four successive fours off Megan Schutt in the 20th to take India to a competitive total. Eight boundaries in 15 deliveries meant Deepti finished unbeaten on 36, while Vaidya remained unbeaten on 25 off 24.The Australian chase
Like India, Australia also started well with stand-in captain Alyssa Healy and Mooney keen on utilising the powerplay to the fullest. Healy picked up the gaps nicely and punished the loose deliveries to score a 23-ball 37, filled with four fours and two sixes. She and Mooney put on a 73-run stand before Vaidya removed Healy via a soft dismissal; Healy hit a full toss straight to Harmanpreet at cover.The wicket didn’t tilt the momentum for India as Mooney and McGrath kept finding boundaries to keep the scorecard moving. India’s sloppy fielding, and the dew, didn’t help them either.The chase looked fairly easy, largely due to Mooney pacing her innings well. Having begun on a steady note, she unfurled well-timed cover drives, pulls and punches off the backfoot to blunt the Indian attack. From 81 for 1 after ten overs, it was a walk in the park for Australia as they brought down the required run rate from ten to 7.4 by the end of 15 overs.Mooney’s 57-ball knock contained 16 fours, while McGrath slammed four fours and a six in her 29-ball innings.