The Indian women's cricket team produced a superb all-round performance to chase down a record total and upstage World champions Australia by five wickets in the opening Twenty20 International in Adelaide, on Tuesday.
Electing to bowl after winning the toss, the Indians did well to restrict Australia to 141, before romping home in 18.4 overs to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.
In the process, the Indian women managed to chase down the biggest victory target against the mighty Aussies, who were the odds-on favourite for the match.
The series moves to Melbourne for the second game on Friday followed by game three in Sydney on Sunday.
The decision to put the Aussies in after winning the toss was proved right early on for Indian captain Mithali Raj when the home side were reduced to 17 for two with pacers Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey striking early.
However, debutant opener Beth Mooney's run-a-ball 36 followed by an entertaining knock of unbeaten 41 by Alyssa Healy lower down the order helped Australia post 140 for five in their 20 overs
The Aussies were in a spot of bother before Healy's 15-ball blitzkrieg, which included five fours and a couple of sixes.
For India, leg-spinner Poonam Yadav was the top wicket-taker, scalping two for 26 in her four overs. Veteran pacer Jhulan, Shikha Pandey and Anuka Patil also picked up a wicket each in a consistently tight bowling performance.
With the bat, the Indians suffered an early jolt as skipper and experienced batsman Mithali Raja (4), who opened the innings, was dismissed early.
However, the rest of the top-order batsmen did their job well enough with Player of the Match Harmanpreet Kaur standing out with a 31-ball 46, which was laced with half a dozen fours and a six.
Smriti Mandhana (29) and Veda Krishnamurthy (36) were the other notable contributors in a fine chase. Anuja Patil stroked a quickfire 14 from just eight balls to lift India to victory with eight balls to spare.
For Australia, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen grabbed two wickets for 24 runs in three overs.
After T20Is, the two teams will play a three-match ODI series early next month.
SCORECARD:
Australia Women:
B Mooney b Poonam Yadav 36 (36b, 2x4)
G Harris c Kaur b Jhulan Goswami 0 (2b)
M Lanning b Shikha Pandey 12 (16b, 2x4)
E Perry c Veda Krishnamurthy b Poonam Yadav 19 (26b, 2x4)
A Blackwell not out 27 (22b, 2x4)
J Jonassen b Anuja Patil 2 (3b)
A Healy not out 41 (15b, 5x4, 2x6)
Extras (lb: 2, w: 1) 3
Total (for five wickets in 20 overs) 140
Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-17, 3-66, 4-76, 5-81.
Bowling: Jhulan Goswami 4-0-21-1, Shikha Pandey 3-0-18-1, Ekta Bisht 3-0-29-0, Anuja Patil 3-0-16-1, Poonam Yadav 4-0-26-2, Niranjana Nagrajan 3-0-28-0.
India Women innings:
Mithali Raj c Coyte b Farrell 4 (6b)
Smriti Mandhana st Healy b Schutt 29 (25b, 3x4, 1x6)
Veda Krishnamurthy c Stalenberg b Jonassen 35 (32b, 5x4)
Harmanpreet Kaur c Healy b Schutt 46 (31b, 6x4, 1x6)
Jhulan Goswami b Jonassen 5 (6b)
Anuja Patil not out 14 (8b, 2x4)
Shikha Pandey not out 4 (4b)
Extras (lb: 2, w: 2) 4
Total (for five wickets in 18.4 overs) 141
Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-62, 3-74, 4-91, 5-132.
Bowling: E Perry 4-0-24-0, R Farrell 3-0-23-1, S Coyte 3.4-0-32-0, J Jonassen 3-0-24-2, G Harris 1-0-13-0, M Schutt 4-0-23-2.
