Australia defeated India, the current world champions, by six wickets after outperforming them in every aspect, in the Women’s ODI series opener in Brisbane on Tuesday,
Despite strong fifties from captain Harmanpreet Kaur (53 off 84) and Smriti Mandhana (58 off 68), India’s batting effort was mediocre, as they were bowled out for 214.
After fifties from captain Alyssa Healy (50 off 70), who is in the middle of her final series, and Beth Mooney (76 off 79), Australia easily chased down the modest mark. With figures of 3/33 in seven overs, spinner Ashleigh Gardner was the home team’s most impressive bowler.
India won the previous T20 series 2-1, locking the multi-format series at 2-2. The three-match ODI series will be followed by a one-off Test match in Perth, where Healy will end her career.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led team is still a work in progress and lacks the aura of the all-conquering Australian team, even after winning the drought-ending ICC title in November.
The brilliance of left-arm spinner Shree Charani, who was rewarded with the consecutive wickets of Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll in the eleventh over, was India’s bright spot with the ball.
India chose to bat at the Allan Border Field after winning the toss. Pacers Megan Schutt and Lucy Hamilton were called up to the Australian team at the last minute since Kim Garth and Ellyse Perry were injured and would not be able to play in the three-match series.
In the opening over of the match, Megan took just two balls to strike, trapping Pratika Rawal in front with a shrewd inswinger. After suffering an ankle injury during India’s successful home campaign at the ODI World Cup last year, Rawal was making her national comeback.
Shafali Verma, who was batting at number three for the first time, struggled to establish a rhythm during her brief time in the middle. After a while, she gave Darcie Brown a straight catch back. Mandhana produced a sequence of beautiful drives off the pace bowlers after starting with a run of streaky boundaries past the slip cordon.
In the middle overs, though, the Australian spinners continued to apply pressure when Gardner got Jemimah Rodrigues behind with a full ball that slightly straightened to give them the advantage. Harmanpreet needed some time to stabilize the innings after Mandhana and Deepti Sharma were hit by the sweep shot. But in the deep off Gardner, she was also hit by the sweep shot.
In an otherwise lackluster batting display from the visitors, Kashvee Gautam (43 off 44) helped push the total over 200 and made an impression with her six-hitting skills. In all, she struck three sixes, including a straight one off Megan over long-on.
