Argentina women mauled Chile in the first T20I of Chile women's tour of Argentina on Friday, October 14 as they registered the highest total (427) in the history of T20Is across men's and women's circuits in Buenos Aires.
With hopes of making some impact with the ball, Chile chose to bowl first after winning the toss but it didn't augur well as the two Argentine openers Lucia Taylor (169 off 84 balls) and Albertina Galan (145* off 84 balls) smacked the Chile bowlers to all parts of the park.
Lucia recorded the highest individual score in women's T20Is going past Deepika Rasangika of Bahrain who had scored 161* against Saudi Arabia women on March 22, 2022.
The Chilean bowlers were way off the mark and bowled a total of 64 no balls and eight wides. Maria Castiñeiras who came to bat after the dismissal of Taylor scored a quick-fire 40* off just 16 balls, including seven fours while maintaining a strike rate of 250.00.
Lucia and Albertina dealt only in fours and put the opposition on the backfoot from ball one. While Lucia scored 27 fours, Albertina struck 23 fours during her unbeaten knock. Both openers maintained healthy strike rates and laid the foundation of an imposing total. While Lucia compiled her innings at a rate of 201.19, Albertina aggregated runs at 172.61.
Chasing 428 to win, Chile needed their batters to get after the Argentine bowlers and do some early damage but it didn't transpire that way. Chile's nightmarish experience in the field continued in the second half too as they got bowled out for just 63 runs. Argentina won the game by 364 runs and became the team to register the biggest win in women's T20Is.
The win has helped the hosts Argentina take a 1-0 lead in the three-match T20I series and look favourites to claim the series.
