Coyte bowls Australia to eight wicket win

Australia women got off to a winning start in the Twenty20 International leg of the Women's Quadrangular series on Thursday.

Australia beat India by eight wickets in the opening game at the Toby Howe Cricket Ground, Billericay to kickstart its campaign in the tournament on a high.

Opting to field first, Australia bowled out India for a paltry 62 in 18.2 overs and then chased down the target in just 10.2 overs.

The player of the match was Sarah Coyte, who ended with figures of 4-0-5-4 to rattle the India line-up. The other wicket-takers for Australia were Clea Smith (2-16) and Shelly Nitschke (2-10).

Only Harmanpreet Kaur (41: 49b, 3x4, 2x6) offered any resistance in the India line-up to an impressive Australia bowling.

In its reply, Australia were led by Leah Poulton (31: 28b, 5x4) and Meg Lanning (23: 18b, 4x4) as it overhauled the target with ease.

Player of the Match Coyte was thrilled with her performance and felt that the team had got off to a perfect start.

"I think it is a positive start. We showed a lot of patience and bowled to our plans. It was a good start for us. I was a bit nervous while starting off, but it ended very well. The pitch was holding up a bit. There was some swinging a and movement as well. The weather was windy and I got used to it pretty quickly. I particularly enjoyed the first wicket when I clean bowled (Mithali) Raj," summed up Coyte.

Looking ahead, Coyte believed that there was still scope for improvement in Australia's performance before the next game against England.

"It is a big game for us. It will be wonderful if we can step it up a notch and be ready for the challenge. We have to continue to be patient and bowl to our plans," added Coyte.

India captain Jhulan Goswami was disappointed, but put down the loss as a bad day in the office. "It was one of those bad days for us. The wicket was good, weather was good. You cannot do much else on such a day. It happens in cricket," opined Goswami.

The India captain Goswami put down the loss to poor shot selection. "I think the batters were in bit of a hurry. The shot selection was not good. Mithali who is one of the best in the world, did not click today. She always gets runs for us. It was unfortunate for all of us. But Harman played really well and Gauhar Sultana bowled a good spell, so there were some positives for us as well," said Goswami.

Now, India will be under pressure to win its next two games to make the Twenty20 final.

"Pressure will always be there when you play international cricket. Now we have to win back to back matches. We have to forget this game and learn from our mistakes and give our best. But now there is no point looking back," added Goswami.