Healy concedes Aussies ‘not quite on’ in T20 humbling

Alyssa Healy has backed Australia’s aggressive approach with the bat, but conceded her team was outplayed in every department in their heavy defeat in Saturday’s opening T20I.

The Aussies need to quickly brush off the nine-wicket loss, with just one day’s break before Monday’s second game – a match the tourists will be desperate to win not only to keep the three-game series alive, but also as they celebrate allrounder Ellyse Perry’s 300th international match.

Australia swapped out frontline spinner Alana King in favour of powerful batting allrounder Grace Harris for the first T20I, but the star-studded line-up failed to fire as they were bowled out for 141 in 19.2 overs.

"We left a lot out there with a bat – we had a platform to get ourselves up over 170, and 140 is not enough on that wicket especially with the dew coming in," Healy told reporters after India romped to victory with 14 balls to spare.

"And then we just let ourselves down a little bit with the new ball – this is what happens in T20 cricket, when you're not quite on against good sides, they make you pay, so we'll just have to fix it for the next two games.

"They probably had the best of the conditions with the new ball, the wicket was offering a little bit but in saying that, they earned that right, they bowled impeccable lengths and made it really challenging for us. 

"So full credit to them and full credit to (Sandhu) for coming in and taking four wickets against our side, I thought she bowled incredibly well."

It was the first time Australia have been bowled out in a T20 game since March 2020.

Healy praised the efforts of India’s new-ball quicks – led by 19-year-old Titas Sandhu (4-17), they reduced Australia to 4-33 at the end of the powerplay.

But the Australian captain said failing to bat out the overs was not a cause for panic.

"When you have a batting line-up like ours 4-30, it does put a lot of pressure on our middle-order who like to go out there and take the game on – normally you want to be able to set the game up and allow those batters the opportunity to come in and strike the ball at the back end," she said.

"We weren't able to do that tonight, unfortunately, but that's the nature of T20 cricket, you want to push the limits out there and we still wanted to get to 170 and we were still trying to do that right to the last ball, so I've got no qualms with us being bowled out tonight. 

"Yes, we could have stayed out there and got another nine runs but would it have changed the results tonight? Probably not. 

"I'm happy for our side to go out there and try and put big totals on the board and if we get bowled out so be it, that's just the nature of the game."

Healy added that Australia would give consideration to whether they got their XI right ahead of Sunday’s match.

But with the team eager to test combinations ahead of their T20 World Cup defence in September, it is unlikely they would ditch the experiment after one match.

"We wanted to see what that line-up could do," Healy said. 

"You look at that line-up on paper and we should be able to chase down anything or put a good total out there. 

"It wasn't able to happen tonight, but it is what it is and we'll just look at that moving into the next game and see if we would make any changes – but we're pretty happy with that XI. 

"It's T20 cricket, we've been saying that all along (and) when you're not quite on it in a particular facet or in multiple facets like we were tonight you get punished by good sides. 

"India played a really, really great game of cricket and put us to the sword a little bit so we've just got to brush that off, tidy up a few areas and make sure that we're ready to come and execute come Sunday."

Before Sunday’s game gets underway, Australia will take time to acknowledge and celebrate Perry, who will become the first Australian woman, and just the fourth female, to play 300 international matches.

She joins an exclusive club alongside Mithali Raj, Charlotte Edwards and Suzie Bates.

Healy is Australia’s next most-capped woman, with 260 appearances to her name, while only five woman have played more than 200 matches.

"I’m really excited for Sunday actually, I think it's a great opportunity for our team to celebrate someone who has been at the forefront of our game and seen the evolution of women's cricket right around the world in Ellyse Perry," Healy said. 

"The opportunity to be a part of her 300th fixture, everyone's really excited for her. 

"She doesn't want to talk about it, I've already brought it up at breakfast this morning … it makes her feel old. 

"But I think it's a great opportunity for our side to celebrate an amazing person within our group and hopefully we can have a win to celebrate as well."

Australia's CommBank Tour of India

Test match: India won by eight wickets

First ODI: Australia won by six wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by three runs

Third ODI: Australia won by 190 runs

January 5: India won by nine wickets

January 7: Second T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 9: Third T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

India T20 squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia, Richa Ghosh, Amanjot Kaur, Shreyanka Patil, Mannat Kashyap, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh, Titas Sadhu, Pooja Vastrakar, Kanika Ahuja, Minnu Mani