Kamal Ghorui
Australia dominated reigning world champions India across departments to register a comfortable six-wicket victory in the opening Women’s ODI on Tuesday.India’s batting effort lacked fluency as they were bowled out for 214, despite half-centuries from Smriti Mandhana (58 off 68) and captain Harmanpreet Kaur (53 off 84). The rest of the batting line-up failed to convert starts, leaving the visitors with a below-par total.
Australia made light work of the chase. Skipper Alyssa Healy (50 off 70), playing in her farewell series, laid the foundation before Beth Mooney anchored the innings with a composed 76 off 79 to guide the hosts home with ease.Spinner Ashleigh Gardner starred with the ball, finishing with impressive figures of 3 for 33 in seven overs.The multi-format series now stands level at 2-2, with India having clinched the earlier T20 leg 2-1. After the three ODIs, the teams will play a one-off Test in Perth, following which Healy will retire from international cricket.Despite ending their ICC title drought in November, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side continues to be a work in progress and is yet to match the dominance long associated with Australia.“We started with the bat with two wickets down which is never easy. We did really well in terms of coming back. Wicket didn’t play the way we thought it would. We’ve been playing good cricket so it’s not like we’ll change much after one loss,” Mandhana said, reflecting on the team’s batting struggles.“We have to come together as a batting unit and post a good total. But we won’t think about it a lot. We have two days, we will reflect on it and come back stronger,” she added.One bright spot for India was left-arm spinner Shree Charani, who struck twice in successive deliveries in the 11th over to dismiss Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll.India had elected to bat after winning the toss at Allan Border Field.Australia were forced into late changes, with Kim Garth and Ellyse Perry ruled out of the three-match series due to injuries. Megan Schutt and Lucy Hamilton were drafted into the side.Schutt made an immediate impact, dismissing Pratika Rawal with a sharp inswinger in the very first over. It marked Rawal’s return to international cricket after recovering from the ankle injury she sustained during India’s victorious ODI World Cup campaign at home last year.Promoted to number three for the first time, Shafali Verma struggled for timing and eventually chipped a straightforward return catch to Darcie Brown.Mandhana rode her luck early with a few streaky boundaries past the slips before settling into her rhythm with elegant drives. However, Australia’s spinners applied the brakes in the middle overs. Gardner removed Jemimah Rodrigues, inducing an outside edge with a delivery that straightened slightly.Mandhana and Deepti Sharma both perished attempting the sweep, while Harmanpreet, after steadying the innings, also fell to a sweep shot off Gardner in the deep.Kashvee Gautam (43 off 44) provided late resistance, lifting India past the 200-mark with an aggressive knock that included three sixes — one of them a straight hit over long-on off Schutt — in an otherwise underwhelming batting display.
