Australian women cricket team won the third and last One Day International (ODI) of three-match series against India by 97 runs at Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, on Thursday.
Riding on Alyssa Healy’s sensational century, Australia scored 332 runs for 7 wickets in their allotted 50 overs.
Following the daunting target of 333 runs, the Indian team was bowled out at the score of 235 runs. Elegant opener Smriti Mandhana and 17-year-old Jemimah Rodrigues gave India a brisk start and put a 100-run partnership for the second wicket.
Ashleigh Gardner brings Australia came back into the game by sending both Jemimah Rodrigues (42) and Mandhana (52) back pavilion in quick succession.
After the departure of India’s opening duo, skipper Mithali Raj (21) along with vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur took the Indian inning forward. But soon Kaur was bowled out by Nicola Carey at the score of 25 runs and Deepti Sharma joined Raj at the crease. After Kaur’s departure, Mithali and Mona Meshram (1) followed the suite.
After Mona was sent back, wicket-keeper batsman Sushma Verma along with Deepti Sharma took the charge of Indian innings and put 39 runs partnership for six wickets.
However, Megan Schutt broke their partnership by sending Verma back to pavilion. And after Sushma’s departure, Deepti was bowled out by Ellyse Perry.
Earlier, after winning the toss, Aussie skipper Meg Lanning opted to bat first. And with the way Aussie batters shattered India’s bowling line-up, it seems as if they executed their plan very well
Indian pacer Ekta Bisht somehow manages to take India back in the game when she sends Aussie opener Nicole Bolton back to pavilion just for 11 runs. Following Bolton’s dismissal, Aussie skipper Lanning took the charge of Australian innings along with Alyssa. But even Lanning was not able to add much to the Aussie scoreboard as the captain gifted her wicket to Deepti Sharma for 18 runs.
After Meg Lanning’s departure, Ellyse Perry once again stabilised Aussie innings and scored 32 runs before she was bowled out by Shikha Pandey.
After Ellyse Perry was sent back, Alyssa Healy and Rachael Haynes and added 96 runs for the fifth wicket.
Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur took one wicket.
Shikha Pandey, Deepti Sharma, Poonam Yadav and Ekta Bisht took one wicket each.
Fall of wickets:
Australia: 19-1 (Nicole Bolton, 5.4), 64-2 (Meg Lanning, 10.3), 143-3 (Ellyse Perry, 28.1), 239-4 (Alyssa Healy, 40.2), 242-5 (Rachael Haynes, 41.1), 285-6 (Ashleigh Gardner, 45.3), 332-7 (Nicola Carey, 49.6)
India: 101-1 (Jemimah Rodrigues, 13.4), 101-2 (Smriti Mandhana, 13.5), 147-3 (Harmanpreet Kaur, 21.5), 179-4 (Mithali Raj, 28.5), 182-5 (Mona Meshram, 29.6), 221-6 (Sushma Verma, 38.5), 221-7 (Deepti Sharma, 39.3), 221-8 (Shikha Pandey, 39.4), 235-9 (Pooja Vastrakar, 44.4)
India Women Playing XI Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mithali Raj (c), Mona Meshram, Harmanpreet Kaur, Sushma Verma (wk), Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav
Australia Women Playing XI: Nicole Bolton, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Rachael Haynes, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Nicola Carey, Jess Jonassen, Amanda Wellington, Megan Schutt