Oz women rout India, win ODIs
VADODARA: Australia reasserted their supremacy with a comprehensive 60-run victory against India women as they sealed the three-match series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead here on Thursday.
After cruising to an eightwicket victory in the opening game, India were outplayed in all departments as Australia scored a healthy 287 for 9 and then bowled out Mithali Raj’s brigade for 227 in 49.2 overs.
India never appeared to be competitive with batters letting the team down on both occasion.
A target of 288 in women’s cricket is a tall order but pintsized opener Punam Raut’s lack of power hurt the Indian team badly as she undid all the hard work done by her opening partner Smriti Mandhana (67 off 53 balls).
While Mandhana hit 12 boundaries and a straight six, Raut was not even able to rotate the strike. Her 27 off 61 balls was a major factor in India losing the match. Her ultra defensive batting put so much pressure on Mandhana, that her attempted slog sweep off leftarm spinner Jess Jonassen (3/51 in 10 overs) landed into deep fine leg’s hands.
Skipper Mithali Raj (15) hit three boundaries but a mis-timed pull-shot off Ellyse Perry (2/41) landed in Alyssa Healy’s gloves. Her decision to keep Deepti Sharma (26 off 45 balls) at No 3 also backfired. Left-hander Deepti, like opener Punam, doesn’t have the power to hit big shots like a Harmanpreet Kaur or a Veda Krishnamurthy. Deepti also wasted many deliveries during the middle overs.
When Harmanpreet (17 off 26 balls) finally came in at No 5, it was already a big ask with 165 required in just over 25 overs. Harmanpreet and Veda (2) were out within a space of four runs and India’s challenge virtually ended in a whimper. Harmanpreet and Veda departed in quick succession and it was left to Pooja Vastrakar (30 off 33 balls) as India managed to cross the 200run mark.
Earlier, opener Nicole Bolton struck 84 off 88 balls to bag her second ‘Player of the Match’ award.
Brief scores: Australia 287/9 in 50 overs (N Bolton 84, E Perry 70, B Mooney 56) bt India 227 in 49.2 overs (S Mandhana 67, D Sharma 26, P Raut 27, J Jonassen 3/51, E Perry 2/41) by 60 runs.