There is a reason why Poonam Yadav is rated so highly as a spinner in Women’s cricket. She is one of the best going around with her art of leg-spin at present and she showed that once again with her match-winning spell of 4 for 19 in the Women’s T20 World Cup opener against Australia on Friday.
Poonam’s majestic spell helped India to defend a paltry total of 132 from a position where everyone thought that the match was headed for an Australia win.
She came on to bowl in the 10th over of the innings with a well-set Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes at the crease. The 28-year-old did start with a couple of full-tosses and got smacked for a six by Healy as well, which helped the Australian batter to bring up her fifty. However, Poonam landed the fifth delivery on a tricky length and the slow nature of the pitch forced Healy into playing an early shot. The ball scooped up and Poonam took an easy catch of her own bowling to send the dangerous Healy back to the hut.
That was just the beginning of the collapse Australia wouldn’t even have thought off. After all, they had batters like Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner to follow. Moreover, they were fresh of a commanding victory against the Indian eves in the final of the Women’s T20 Tri-Series just a couple of weeks back.
But fate had something else in store. It was going to be Poonam’s day. She returned in her very next over to claim the wickets of Haynes and Perey off back to back deliveries. She had even induced an edge off Jess Jonassen’s willow which would have given her a hat-trick. But Wicket-Keeper Taniya Bhatia failed to hold on to the ball and Poonam was denied a well-deserved hat-trick.
However, that didn’t throw Poonam off her rhythm. The Australian batters had no clue what they were facing. She came back in the 14th over to claim the wicket of Jonassen again. Bhatia succeeded in holding on to the catch this time and Poonam had got her fourth wicket off the match. Australia was reduced to 82 for 6 and India could sniff victory at that very moment.
Poonam bowled a disciplined last over again to complete her spell and the rest of the Indian bowlers ensured that Australia was bowled out for 115, which was 17 runs short of India’s total.
This was a terrific performance from Poonam looking back at the fact that she was making a comeback from injury. She didn’t feature in the Tri-Series prior to the tournament. But Poonam had given indications of what she was going to do in this tournament with her spell of 3 for 20 in the warm-up fixture against West Indies Women. She had helped India to defend a paltry total of 107 by a margin on just two runs in that match as well.
So, these performances sum up the kind of form she is in. In fact, since her debut, no other bowler has taken more wickets in Women’s T20Is than Poonam. She has taken 89 wickets in 63 matches so far at an outstanding economy rate and strike-rate of 5.60 and 15.2 respectively. South Africa’s Shabnim Ismail has the second-highest tally of wickets during this period with 75 scalps to her name at an economy rate and strike-rate of 5.59 and 19.2 respectively.
Not only that, Poonam’s tally of wickets includes three four-wicket hauls. This is also the joint-most for any bowler during this period. So, these facts sum up how lethal a wicket-taking force she is.
Poonam was rightly adjudged the Player of the match for her excellent spell as well. The Agra-born girl bowled with a lot of heart and single-handedly turned the momentum of the match completely in India’s favour. She had played a defining role in India’s last T20 World Cup campaign and, if this performance is anything to go by, she is going to play a far bigger role in the forthcoming matches this time.