WATCH: Pacer Anjali Sarvani Earns India Cap In First T20I Against Australia

Left-arm pacer Anjali Sarvani was handed her Indian debut in the first T20I against Australia women on December 9. She was given the India cap by none other than skipper Harmanpreet Kaur. The Aussies coasted to a comfortable victory in the first match at the DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai. They won the game with nine wickets as they chased down their target with 11 balls to spare.

In a video that was shared from the official Twitter handle of BCCI Women, we can see Harmanpreet Kaur presenting the India cap to Anjali Sarvani. There were smiles all around the camp along with claps and a few pictures to commemorate the special occasion for the 25-year-old pacer. “A moment to remember,” said the caption.

After losing the toss Harmapreet shared her thoughts regarding their choice as well as the experience that Anjali brings with her. “We wanted to bowl first. Batting isn’t that bad. We have one debutant. Anjali has been good and she brings in experience from domestic cricket. We have different variety in bowling,” Harmanpreet Kaur said

The Indian Women team were forced to bat first after losing the toss. Shefali Verma got out after scoring a quickfire 21 runs from 10 balls in the opening stages of the innings. Cameos from Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma helped the Indian side post a total of 172 runs.

The Indian bowlers only managed to uproot one Australian wicket as Alyssa Healy fell prey to Devika Vaidya. Apart from that, the Indians enjoyed very little success in the bowling department. In her debut T20I, Sarvani gave away 27 runs in her spell of four overs.

The Australian women hit the accelerator from the very start of their innings. Beth Mooney scored an impressive 89 runs from a mere 57 balls at a striker rate of 156.14. Tahlia McGrath also supported her well during her stint with a knock of 40 runs.

Mooney won the Player of the Match award after her blistering innings that put the Australians on the path to victory. The Aussies have asserted their dominance as they take the lead in this 5-match T20I series between India and Australia.

The second T20I is scheduled to take place in Navi Mumbai on December 11 at 7:00 pm IST. It will be interesting to see whether the Indian women can hit back in the second match to balance the series or will the Australians race away to clinch another match in the series.

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