Wanted to exploit both sides of ground while batting, says Tahlia McGrath
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ustralia all-rounder Tahlia McGrath expressed happiness after her breakthrough performance helped her side seal the victory against England in the first T20I of the three-match series on Thursday.
McGrath's all-round performance and Meg Lanning's spirited show with the bat helped Australia defeat England by nine wickets.
"It was a lot of fun, my home ground and I was looking forward to this game, so to help us win, I am super happy. Our preparations were a bit lean, staying in the bio-bubbles and on, so playing more games will help us," McGrath said after the first T20I.
"Danni Wyatt batted beautifully, so the plan was to bowl at the stumps and restrict her. While batting, we wanted to exploit both sides of the ground, batting under lights is easier over here and it came off," she added.
On the other hand, England skipper Heather Knight said that the team will be taking some positives after this defeat.
"We were a bit rusty, batting was good, but we were still a few runs short, we'll take home the positives though, can do better in all the three departments, and will hope to do so when we are back for the next game on Saturday," said Knight.
With this win, Australia has gained an early lead in the ongoing Women's Ashes and the second T20I will now be played on Saturday at the same venue. McGrath first took three wickets with the ball and then she backed it up by playing a 91-knock.
Chasing 170, Australia got off to a decent start as openers Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy put on 26 runs inside four overs, but this stand was cut short by Sophie Ecclestone as she dismissed Healy (7) and this brought Tahlia McGrath to the middle.
Lanning and McGrath ensured that Australia does not lose momentum as they kept chipping away at runs, and the hosts needed 85 to win from the final ten overs with nine wickets in hand.
McGrath and Lanning kept on scoring runs, and as a result, England was not able to create any sort of pressure. In the end, the hosts registered a comfortable nine-wicket victory. In the end, McGrath and Lanning remained unbeaten on 91 and 64 respectively.
Earlier, Danielle Wyatt played a knock of 70 runs as England posted 169/4 in the allotted twenty overs.
✔️ Wanted to exploit both sides of ground while batting, says Tahlia McGrath
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