Ruthless Aussies target whitewash of ODI series in India
Australian allrounder Annabel Sutherland says the touring side is hellbent on denying India white-ball success and will pick a full-strength team for the final ODI overnight.
The match will be a dead rubber after Australia locked up a 2-0 series victory with a nailbiting three-run win on Saturday, but Sutherland said the team did not want to give up any momentum heading into a three-match T20 series to complete the tour.
The Australian selectors faced a difficult decision over experienced swing bowler Megan Schutt after she missed the second ODI with a sore quad and was replaced by Kim Garth, who claimed 1-24 from six overs.
Sutherland was tight-lipped over whether Australia would alter its bowling line-up after it restricted India to 8-255 in pursuit of 258 in Mumbai but said Schutt, 30, had been a valuable mentor during the series to a young pace contingent that has included Sutherland, Darcie Brown and Lauren Cheatle.
“We’ll be putting our best team out there and looking to go 3-0 in the series to lead into the T20 series with some momentum,” she said.
“We’ve got a few young girls in that fast bowling unit, so (Schutt) been a great person to lean on at different points.
“I think the thing about ‘Schutter’ is she keeps evolving, which you kind of have to do in the female game – you get found out, and batters can work you out pretty quickly if you don’t keep developing different deliveries.
“She’s been one that’s able to do that, and I think her execution in different moments, particularly at the death in clutch moments, she’s been exceptional in the way she just continues to show up and put her hand up.”
Sutherland, who will be home for only a month after the series before heading back to India for the WPL, said playing in many different conditions in a year that also included an Ashes tour had helped her evolution.
The 22-year-old fetched the highest price at last month’s WPL auction after she was signed by the Delhi Capitals for about $364,000.
“I think even being exposed to conditions like these that we’ve had at Wankhede – more spinning conditions that we don’t get the chance to play on as much back home,” she said.
“I’ve played close attention to how the top order have gone about things, and certain players have made it look pretty easy at different points.