Australia eves beat India by 6 wickets in T20 tri-series opener

Mumbai, March 23 - Continuing their winning run from the bilateral ODI series, Australia defeated Indian women by six wickets in the opener of the T20 tri-series here on Thursday.

Chasing a modest 153, the tourists rode on opener Beth Mooney's 32-ball 45 and valuable contributions from Elyse Villani (39) and skipper Meg Lanning (35 not out) to romp home with 11 balls to spare.

Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami (3/30), however, gave the hosts a ray of hope with two early wickets but failed to receive any help from the other bowlers as the Australians continued their dominance with the bat.

Earlier, after being put in to bat, the hosts squandered a brilliant 72-run start in 9.2 overs by Smriti Mandhana (67 off 41 balls) and Mithali Raj (18) to only accumulate 152 in their 20 overs.

Anuja Patil (35) struck some lusty blows towards the end but failed to take India to a massive total.

For the Southern Stars, Ashleigh Gardner, Ellyse Perry took two wickets each while Delissa Kimmince picked one.

Brief Scores: India 152/5 (Smriti Mandhana 67, Anuja Patil 35; Ashleigh Gardner 2/22) lose to Australia 156/4 (Beth Mooney 45, Elyse Villani 39, Meg Lanning 35 not out; Jhulan Goswami 3/30) by 6 wickets.

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IANS