Grace Harris and Ashleigh Gardner rescue Australia from India scare

A half-century from Harmanpreet Kaur and four powerplay wickets from Renuka Singh had India in the driver's seat before Harris and Gardner combined to kickstart Australia's comeback

Edgbaston: India 154-8, Australia 157-7 - Australia won by three wickets

Scorecard

Grace Harris and Ashleigh Gardner combined to rescue Australia from what at one point looked like certain defeat in their 2022 Commonwealth Games opener. They beat India at Edgbaston by three wickets.

The pair shared a vital 51-run sixth-wicket partnership off 34 balls to kickstart their side's comeback from 49 for 5 after a first-innings half-century from Harmanpreet Kaur and four powerplay wickets from Renuka Singh had put India on the verge of a shock victory.

Batting first, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma got India off to a lightning start, the former racing to 24 off 17 deliveries before being dismissed by Darcie Brown in the fourth over and the latter hitting nine boundaries on her way to 48 (33 balls).

Australia, by contrast, were a touch sloppy for the opening 10 overs, with Rachael Haynes dropping Mandhana on nine and skipper Meg Lanning losing a high catch off Verma when the opener was 19 off 20.

Yastika Bhatia was runout for eight shortly before the halfway mark, the wicketkeeper left stranded after slipping, but it was Jess Jonassen who wrestled back momentum for Australia.

^{Grace Harris shared a crucial sixth-wicket partnership with Ashleigh Gardner [Glyn Kirk/Getty Images]}

The spinner removed Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues and Deepti Sharma as India slipped from 93 for 2 to 117 for 5 before grabbing the late wicket of Harleen Deol to finish with figures of 4 for 22.

Kaur, however, was a thorn in Australia's side, hitting the first six of the Games and racing to her half-century off 31 balls to keep India's total ticking over.

The skipper was eventually dismissed for 52 (34) off the penultimate ball of the match and Megan Schutt also accounted for Meghna Singh as India closed on 154 for 8 – a total Australia would have been very happy with following India's strong start.

Any joy in the Australia camp proved to be short-lived, with Renuka Singh collecting four wickets inside the powerplay as part of a devastating opening spell.

The 26-year-old, who only made her international debut last October, dismissed Alyssa Healy (caught Sharma) off the second delivery of the innings to gift India the perfect start before removing Lanning (caught Radha Yadav), Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath (both bowled) to reduce Australia to 34 for 4 after 4.1 overs. Bowling her allocation in one stint, R Singh finished with figures of 4 for 18, including 16 dot balls.

^{Renuka Singh Thakur celebrates the wicket of Beth Mooney [Glyn Kirk/Getty Images]}

Haynes was next to depart, picking out Yadav off Sharma in the eighth over, to leave Australia in disarray on 49 for 5.

Harris, however, brought her side back into contention, smashing 37 runs off 20 balls, including five fours and two sixes, as part of a 51-run partnership with Gardner.

Meghna Singh, who took a beating from the sixth-wicket pair, brought their stand to an end, tempting Harris into a heave-ho which she sliced in the air to Kaur, but by this point, the damage was done. Harris walked out with Australia requiring 106 off 76, when she departed the equation was 55 off 42.

Jonassen quickly followed Harris back to the changing rooms, caught and bowled by Sharma for three, but Gardner maintained the pressure and together with Alana King saw Australia home with six balls to spare.

Gardner finished unbeaten on 52 from 35 balls, ramping up her scoring following Harris's departure, while King chipped in with a crucial 16-ball 18 and struck the winning boundary.