In the third and final match in Hobart on Sunday, Australia crushed India 3-0 in the series with a 185-run thumping of the world champions. Captain Alyssa Healy waved farewell to ODI cricket on a beautiful note, slamming a blistering 158.
After being asked to bat, Australia amassed a massive 409 for seven thanks to Healy’s 158 and Beth Mooney’s undefeated 106. It was Healy’s ODI swansong, a fairytale.
India lost the three-match series 0–3 after being dismissed for 224 in 45.1 overs while chasing a huge score of 410. Healy’s remarkable international career will come to an end on March 6 when she plays India in the one-off pink-ball Test in Perth.
From 126 ODIs, she has amassed 3,777 runs, eight hundreds, and 19 half tons. Healy and Georgia Voll (62 off 52) combined 134 runs for the second wicket to help Australia go forward after losing Phoebe Litchfield (14) early.
Then, to give Australia a head start on the big total, Healy and Mooney stitched 145 runs for the third wicket. Healy achieved her eighth ODI century while playing in her 126th ODI, hitting 27 boundaries and two maximums off of the 98 balls she faced.
Mooney’s knock was peppered with ten hits to the fence and one six, while Voll’s knock featured seven fours and one six. Nicola Cary (34 off 15) and Annabel Sutherland (23) were excellent players in the closing stages.
Shree Charani (2/106) became just the third bowler to let up 100 or more runs in an ODI, while Sneh Rana (2/66) took two wickets for India.
India lost wickets frequently, thus their run chase never really got going. Before Pratika Rawal (27 off 21) and Jemimah Rodrigues (42 off 29) put 54 runs for the second wicket, vice-captain and in-form Smriti Mandhana was the first to leave in the second over.
However, when Rawal left in the eighth over after being caught plumb in front of the wicket by Annabel Sutherland, the floodgates opened. The next to go was Rodrigues, who was hitting nine boundaries and playing superbly. Hamilton caught him at short fine-leg off Ashleigh Gardner as the batter attempted a sweep but was top-edged.
Harleen Deol (14) did not contribute significantly either. Harmanpreet Kaur, the captain, was expected to come up with a captain’s knock, but she only managed 25 off 33 balls before Alana King dismissed her LBW.
Kashvee Gautam and Richa Ghosh (18) were also dismissed cheaply as the Indians could not meet the rising required run rate.
Sneh Rana and Deepti Sharma (29 off 47) put together 63 runs for the eighth wicket towards the finish, but it was insufficient since the Indian batting never really gained the momentum it needed to take down the enormous total.
In the 40th over, King was dismissed LBW, sending Deepti packing.
Rana was brought into the game and immediately made an impression with the bat and the ball. Even though India was bowled out for 224 in 45.1 overs, she proved her worth by making 44 off 74 balls with that bat after first returning with good numbers of 2/66.
In the first two ODIs, India had fallen behind by six and five wickets, respectively. However, the previous three-match T20 series was won 2-1 by the visitors. Australia is now up 8–4 in points in the multi-format series.
With two points awarded for each T20 and 50-over victory and four for a Test victory, the trophy for the multi-format series will be determined by points.
