Australia-W secure comfortable win despite India-W batters’ fine show
The Indian women’s cricket team couldn’t really make the most of the opening match of the three-match series that precedes India’s run for the upcoming ODI World Cup. In what was a high-scoring encounter, Australia cantered away to a win, courtesy of a solid knock from Phoebe Litchfield.
Winning the toss, India opted to bat first. They got off to a fine start, thanks to the opening pair of Pratika Rawal (64) and Smriti Mandhana (58). The duo added 114 runs for the first wicket before Mandhana was run out by Litchfield. One of Indian women’s major bother in recent times found new hope in the form of Harleen Deol at No.3.
Harleen scored a fine century to offer India a decent platform, eyeing for a bigger finish. However, losing wickets at regular intervals dented India’s chances of finishing past the 300-mark. Cameos from Richa Ghosh (25), Deepti Sharma (20) and Radha Yadav (19) propelled India to 281/7 at the end of their fifty overs.
Despite Kranti Goud getting the better of Alyssa Healy (27) quickly enough, Australia had other plans. Phoebe Litchfield (88) got them into the driver’s seat. Ellyse Perry did get the much-needed start (30*) but had to retire hurt. However, that did very little to dampen the spirits of the Australian team.
Beth Mooney (77*) posted a solid show of resistance while Annabel Sutherland stayed unbeaten for 54 to drive Australia home with eight wickets and almost six overs to spare. Sneh Rana was the pick of the Indian bowling lot with figures of 1/55 from 10 overs. India will be returning to the yard on Wednesday where the two teams lock horns again for the second ODI.
