Australia beat defending world champions India in every department to register a comfortable six-wicket victory in the women’s ODI opener on Tuesday.
Despite half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana (58 off 68) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (53 off 84), India’s batting was not smooth enough and they were bowled out for 214. The rest of the batting line-up failed to make a successful start, resulting in a sub-par total for the visitors.
Australia got the job done with ease in this chase. Skipper Alyssa Healy (50 off 70) laid the foundation for her farewell series before Beth Mooney guided the home side comfortably home with a composed 76 off 79.
Spinner Ashleigh Gardner was the star, taking an impressive 3 for 33 in seven overs.
The multi-format series is currently tied at 2-2, with India clinching the earlier T20 round 2-1. After the three ODIs, the teams will play a one-off Test in Perth, after which Healy will retire from international cricket.
Despite ending their ICC title drought in November, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side continues to improve and is yet to match Australia’s long-standing dominance.
“We started with the bat with two wickets, which was never easy. We did a very good job in the counter-attack. The wickets were not batting the way we thought. We have been bowling well, so we won’t change much after one loss,” Mandana said while reflecting on the team’s batting struggles.
“We have to come together as a batting unit and get a good total. But we won’t overthink it. We have two days and we will reflect on this and come out stronger,” she added.
One of the bright spots for India was left-arm spinner Shree Charani, who dismissed Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll with two consecutive deliveries in the 11th over.
India elected to bat after winning the toss at the Allen Border Stadium.
Australia were forced to make late changes, with Kim Gase and Ellis Perry missing the three-match series through injury. Megan Shute and Lucy Hamilton were selected for the team.
Schutte made an immediate impact, knocking out Pratika Rawal with a sharp inside arc in the first round. This marks Rawal’s return to international cricket after recovering from an ankle injury sustained during India’s ODI World Cup win on home soil last year.
Shafali Verma, promoted to third for the first time, struggled with his timing and eventually made a direct pass to Darcie Brown.
Mandana got lucky early on, breaking through the turnovers with some streaks and then settling into her rhythm with a classy drive. However, the Australian spinners braked in the middle overs. Gardner replaced Jemima Rodriguez and induced an outside advantage with a slightly straightened pitch.
Mandhana and Deepti Sharma both lost while trying to sweep, while Harmanpreet was also hit by Gardner’s sweep after stabilizing his innings.
Kashvee Gautam (43 off 44) provided the last resistance to lift India to the 200-run mark with aggressive batting that included three sixes – one of which was a long straight drive from Shute – in an otherwise lackluster batting performance.