Mark Taylor questions Meg Lanning's decision to bowl first in stunning T20 World Cup-opening defeat
Former Australian skipper Mark Taylor has questioned Southern Stars captain Meg Lanning's decision to bowl first after the stunning defeat to India in the World T20 opener.
After being inserted in by the reigning champions, India got off to a flyer, smashing 40 runs in the first four overs of the match before being pegged back through the middle overs.
While India's score of 4-132 looked to be below par, it proved to be more than enough as the Southern Stars succumbed to Indian spin sensation Poonam Yadav.
Following the shocking loss, Taylor called the performance "disappointing" and pointed at Lanning's decision to field first as one she might ultimately regret.
Alyssa Healy was the only Australian batter to find any sort of fluency in the loss to India Getty
"I think one of the things Australia will look back on is the toss," Taylor said on Nine's coverage.
"Just looking at that pitch, it slowed right down as the game went on. The first four overs went for 40 runs, that's when all the scoring was done and maybe the pitch was a little bit harder and the new ball was coming on.
"From that moment on batting became very difficult. India pushed it around (with) lots of singles and only had three boundaries in their innings after the fourth over.
"Then Australia, apart from Alyssa Healy, really struggled also, so I think if Australia had their time again, they might have batted first."
