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Beth Mooney's sublime 54 and Meg Lanning's fiery unbeaten knock of 49 runs propelled Australia to 172/4 against India in the first semi-final at the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2023 here at Newlands in Cape Town on Thursday.
Australia set India a target of 173 to win the first semi-final at Newlands. A half-century from opener Beth Mooney was the stand-out knock, with each of the Aussie top four making good starts. Opted to bat first, Australia got off to a decent start as Alyssa Healy stroked the first ball of the innings for four to spark a solid opening partnership that made it through the Powerplay unscathed. The duo of Beth Mooney and Healy slammed Indian bowlers all around the ground with their stunning shots. Healy and Beth Mooney gave Australia a smooth start, 43/0 at the end of the powerplay. India did make a breakthrough, with Radha Yadav tempting Healy down the wicket and Richa Ghosh pulling off the stumping, with Healy departing for 25. But at 78/1 after 11 overs, Australia were confidently pushing on to a big score. Mooney slammed back-to-back two-fours on Shikha Pandey's delivery to brought up her half-century in 34 balls. However, Mooney's stint at the crease came to an end as she was dismissed by Shikha who gave her team a big breakthrough. Mooney reached her half-century and fell just moments later for 54. Ashleigh Gardner also shifted gear as she joined hands with Lanning to slam Sneh Rana for 14 runs in the 15th over of the innings. Gardner and Lanning belted India bowlers while slamming 13 runs in the 16th over and 11 runs in the 17th over of the innings. Deepti Sharma provided India with a breakthrough as she dismissed Gardner for 31 runs. In the 19th over Shikha bagged Grace Harris' wicket to put some pressure on Australian batters. In the last over of the innings, Lanning hammered Renuka for 18 runs, while slamming two sixes and one four taking Australia's score to 172/4 in 20 overs. Brief score: Australia 172/4 (Beth Mooney 54, Meg Lanning 49*; Shikha Pandey 2-32) vs India. (ANI)
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