Pride at stake for Indian Eves in 3rd ODI against Oz

The series already lost, India women would look to salvage some pride when they take on mighty Australia in the third and final game of the series, a part of the ICC Women ODI Championship, here today.

It has been a disastrous series for Indian women so far as they are yet to taste a victory in four matches, including the two practice games preceding the three-game ODI series.

It has been a dominating performance from Australia, who had lost to India in the World Cup semifinals.

Australia women have showed their class by registering convincing wins in all the matches. They won the first ODIs by eight wickets and sealed the

series with 60-run victory in the second match.

Prior to the ODIs, Indian women had also lost both the practice games in Mumbai by massive 321 runs and seven wickets respectively. And come Sunday, it would be Indian women’s last chance to redeem some pride and bring smiles back to the faces of their

fans with a consolation win.

But to achieve a favourable result India will have to improve in all departments of the game. In the absence of veteran Jhulan Goswami, the Indian bowling attack looked lacklustre in the series with Shikha Pandey and Pooja Vastrakar leaking runs upfront.

The spinners too failed to make any considerable impact with the likes of Ekta Bisht and Poonam Yadav struggling to contain the Australian batswomen in favourable conditions.

India’s batting has been unimpressive in the two matches and it has cost the team badly. Opener Punam Raut struggled in both the games and was also guilty of wasting too many deliveries while chasing 288 runs in the must-win second game.

Barring left-handed opener Smriti Mandhana, who made 67 off 53 balls in the second ODI, all the Indian batswomen struggled. Much was expected from the likes of skipper Mithali Raj, who missed the first ODI due to illness, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy and Deppti Shama but all of them failed to make any impact. The onus would be on the Indian batters to shoulder the responsibility tomorrow and hand their side a much-needed moraleboosting victory.

Australia, on the other hand, have not put a foot wrong in the tour so far.

The Australians have been clinical in all departments of the game, be it batting, bowling or fielding.

Opener Nicole Bolton is in sublime touch, following up her unbeaten 100 with a classy 84 in the second ODI.

Ellyse Perry struck an unbeaten run-a-ball 70 while Beth Mooney smashed a 40-ball 56 in the last match and the duo would be looking to carry forward its good form.

Captain Meg Lanning got starts in both the games before getting out and would be hoping to score big.

“There is pressure but at where I am sitting, I need to be able to handle that pressure. I need to embrace it rather than run away from it or use it as an excuse. It doesn’t matter whether I play this tournament, IPL or the England series, for me every match is important,” he added.

Karthik is abreast of the tough competition in the Indian cricket team and said he needs to take every chance that comes his way.

“Opportunities are few and far in between. The competition in the Indian team is so strong that every time you get an opportunity you need to try and give your best. More importantly, I have to perform,” he said.

“I am trying to do well in every match. I am not looking too far at the World Cup. As of now from where I am, every of the game,” he said.

“They have done well for themselves, especially in subcontinent conditions. They are a very good team. I think we are trying to focus on our processes and routines, that has given us good results till now.”

Spinners have been pretty successful in the tournament so far and Karthik said the key for a batsman against the slow bowlers is to have a positive frame of mind.

“Rotating strike is really important. It is always a little bit harder to rotate strike in these wickets. Odd ball turns while some balls go straight. That’s the tricky part of both these wickets and that’s why you have seen a lot of dot balls being played. The spinners have been using that and have been bowling pretty consistently with low economy rates,” he said.