Australia dominated reigning world champions India in every department to register a comfortable six-wicket victory in the opening Women’s ODI on Tuesday. India delivered an underwhelming batting display after opting to bat first, getting bowled out for 214 despite half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana (58 off 68) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (53 off 84).
The hosts chased down the target with relative ease, powered by a composed 50 off 70 balls from skipper Alyssa Healy, who is playing her farewell series, and a fluent 76 off 79 from Beth Mooney. Spinner Ashleigh Gardner was the standout with the ball, claiming three for 33 in seven overs.
The multi-format series now stands level at 2-2, with India having taken the preceding T20 series 2-1. After the three-match ODI leg, the teams will play a one-off Test in Perth, following which Healy will bring down the curtain on her international career.
Despite ending their long ICC title drought in November, the Harmanpreet-led side still appears to be evolving and lacks the dominance that has long defined the Australian outfit.
“We started with the bat two wickets down, which is never easy. We did well to recover, but the wicket didn’t play the way we expected. We’ve been playing good cricket, so it’s not like we will change much after one loss,” Mandhana said, acknowledging the collective batting shortcoming. "We need to come together as a batting unit and put up a strong total. We won’t overthink it. We have two days to reflect and we’ll come back stronger,” she added.
One bright spot for India with the ball was left-arm spinner Shree Charani, who struck twice in successive deliveries in the 11th over, dismissing Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll to briefly lift the visitors’ hopes. India had won the toss and chosen to bat at the Allan Border Field.
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With Kim Garth and Ellyse Perry ruled out of the ODI series due to injuries, Australia drafted in pacers Megan Schutt and Lucy Hamilton at short notice.
Schutt made an immediate impact, trapping Pratika Rawal leg-before with a sharp in swinger in just the second ball of the match. It marked Rawal’s return to international cricket after recovering from the ankle injury she sustained during India’s successful ODI World Cup campaign at home last year.
Promoted to number three for the first time, Shafali Verma struggled to find rhythm and eventually offered a straightforward return catch to Darcie Brown.
Mandhana began cautiously, edging a few streaky boundaries past the slip cordon before unfurling some elegant drives off the seamers. However, Australia’s spinners tightened the screws during the middle overs. Gardner had Jemimah Rodrigues caught behind with a delivery that straightened slightly to take the outside edge.
Both Mandhana and Deepti Sharma fell attempting the sweep shot, and although Harmanpreet steadied the innings, she too perished playing the same stroke, holing out in the deep off Gardner.
Kashvee Gautam provided late resistance with an enterprising 43 off 44 balls, helping India cross the 200-run mark. She struck three sixes, including a powerful straight hit over long-on off Schutt, offering a rare highlight in an otherwise disappointing batting effort from the visitors.
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