Lanning cut her to point, while Mooney chopped her delivery on to her stumps while trying to cut her. Reaping the rewards of sticking to a good line outside off, the 26-year-old speedster from Himachal gave India the perfect start when she had Healy for a duck, edging to Deepti Sharma at first slip of just the second ball of the innings. India will still take heart from Renuka’s sizzling show on Friday. India now must quickly pick themselves up from this heartbreak as they take on Pakistan on Sunday in what is a do-or-die, high-pressure encounter for them, considering that Barbados are the other team in Group ‘B’. Sadly, they just couldn’t close out the game. It’s difficult to see someone stop Australia from winning the women’s cricket competition at this Commonwealth Games, but this was India’s best chance to pull off a stunner. 9 Alana King (18 not out, 16b, 3x4) displayed the might of Australia’s batting depth, as the gold-medal favourites cantered to the target with an over to spare. Slamming a match-winning half-century, Ashleigh Gardner (52 not out, 35b, 9x4), Grace Harris (37, 20b, 5x4, 2圆) and No. However, bouncing back from the early setbacks in tremendous fashion, the seven-time ODI and current T20 world champions then showed why they are the true, unbeatable ‘superpower’ of women’s cricket.

A huge upset looked to be on the cards when Renuka dismantled Australia’s famed top order of Alysaa Healy (0), Beth Mooney (10), skipper Meg Lanning (8) and Tahilia McGrath (14) in quick succession, leaving them tottering at 34/4 in the fifth over. For a while, fired by a sensational opening spell by seamer Renuka Singh Thakur, who took a T20I career-best 4/18, India seemed to be on top of the Southern Stars in the opening clash at Edgbaston on Friday, having reduced them to 49/5 in the eighth over in pursuit of 155. In the end, having let go of a golden opportunity to beat mighty Australia, the Indian women’s team was left heartbroken.

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