<p>Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup here on Friday.</p>.<p>Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.</p>.<p>Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs</p>.<p>"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.</p>.<p>Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.</p>.<p>The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.</p>.<p>India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.</p>.<p>"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.</p>.<p>Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.</p>.<p>However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.</p>.<p>Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.</p>.<p>Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.</p>.<p>Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.</p>.<p>Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.</p>.<p>Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.</p>.<p>India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.</p>.<p>However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.</p>.<p>Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.</p>.<p>For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers. </p>
<p>Leg-spinner Poonam Yadav bowled a magical spell in her comeback game to steer India to a comfortable 17-run win over defending champions Australia in the opening match of the Women's T20 World Cup here on Friday.</p>.<p>Put in to bat, India struggled to a below par 132 before Poonam (4/19 in 4 overs) foxed the Aussies with her googlies, turning the match decisively into her team's favour.</p>.<p>Australia, who have won the competition four times in six editions, were all out for 115 in 19.5 overs</p>.<p>"A bowler like Poonam is someone who leads from the front. We were expecting a great comeback from her. Our team is looking nice, earlier we depended on two-three players," India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match.</p>.<p>Poonam, who missed the preceding tri-series due to a hand injury, also got good support from other bowlers including pacer Shikha Pandey.</p>.<p>The 28-year-old from Agra was on a hat-trick but narrowly missed out as wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia dropped a difficult chance.</p>.<p>The tournament-opener saw a record 13,000 plus attendance with a sizeable chunk supporting India.</p>.<p>India next play against Bangladesh in Perth on February 24.</p>.<p>"It was great for me to come back from injury and perform like this. It was the third time that I was on a hat-trick but satisfied that I was able to do the job for the team," said Poonam at the post-match presentation.</p>.<p>Australia were off to a good start to their chase with opener Alyssa Healy making a 35-ball 51, laced with six boundaries and a six.</p>.<p>However, Indian spinners led by Poonam triggered a collapse as Australia suddenly slipped to 82 for six.</p>.<p>Poonam (4/19) snapped four wickets, two in successive deliveries in the 12th over, to break the back of Australia's chase.</p>.<p>Ashleigh Gardner (34 off 36) tried her bit but didn't get any support from the other end.</p>.<p>Earlier, India squandered a flying start to end up with a below-par total.</p>.<p>Sixteen-year-old Shafali Verma took India to 40 for no loss in four overs with a typically aggressive 29 off 15 balls but her fall derailed the innings as the other batters disappointed.</p>.<p>Deepti Sharma made a composed 46-ball 49 in the second half of the innings but the firepower that India needed in the death overs was badly missing.</p>.<p>India were cruising initially with Shafali taking the opposition to the cleaners, hitting five fours and a six.</p>.<p>However, left-arm spinner Jess Jonassen (2/24) snapped two quick wickets, Smriti Mandhana (10 off 11) and Harmanpreet (2 off 5) to reduce India to 47 for three.</p>.<p>Deepti then shared 53 runs with Jemimah Rodrigues (26 off 33) to bring up the 100 in the 16th over.</p>.<p>For Australia, Ellyse Perry (1/15) and Delissa Kimmince (1/24) were the other wicket-takers. </p>