The first T20I between India and Australia was called off due to persistent rain here at the Carrara Oval on Thursday. The abandonment sees both India and Australia receiving a point each towards the series. The hosts lead the multi-format series 7-5 with two T20Is remaining.
India scored 131/4 in 15.2 overs before play was stopped due to rain. While the match officials initially decided to end the India innings and set Australia a target accordingly, consistent rain saw the match being called off.
The only silver lining in the otherwise dark clouds was the return to form of India batsman Jemimah Rodrigues. She played a stylish knock of 49 runs off 36 balls to help India remain on top even as the visitors lost wickets regularly.
Put into bat first, India got off to a bad start as the side lost both openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma inside four overs despite scoring 37 runs. Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur then carried India's innings before Sophie Molineux removed the visitors' skipper.
Meanwhile, Rodrigues crossed 1000 T20I runs and continued her fine form as India went past the 130-run mark before rain interrupted play.
Tahlia McGrath, Hannah Darlington and Yastika Bhatia made their T20I debuts while Renuka Singh made her international debut on Thursday.
Brief Scores: India Women 131/4 (Jemimah Rodrigues 49*; Ashleigh Gardner 2-28, Georgia Wareham 1-3) vs Australia Women
( With inputs from ANI )
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