India vs Australia Women | Australia secure six championship points with 3-0 whitewash

ByDivya Sahu, SportsCafe Editor

03/18/2018

The Australian women’s cricket team managed to win the final ODI of the series against India by 98 runs in Vadodara, thanks to Alyssa Healy’s century which helped the side put up 332/7. The Indian side failed to chase down the target and managed to score only 235 runs before waving the flag.

Brief scores : Australia 332/7 (Alyssa Healy 133, Rachael Haynes 43; Harmanpreet Kaur 2/51, Ekta Bisht 1/38) beat India 235/9 (Smriti Mandhana 52, Jemimah Rodrigues 42; Ashleigh Gardner 3/40, Ellyse Perry 2/40) by 98 runs

Healy and Perry consolidate innings after India start well

Australia wanted to continue their winning streak in the third and final ODI of the series against India and after winning the toss they chose to bat first. Nicole Bolton, who guided team to a win in the first two ODIs, seemed in a great touch again in the start of the innings as she bagged eight runs in the second over of the innings. But Shikha Pandey and Deepti Sharma managed to control the run flow and it was Ekta Bisht who got India the first breakthrough in the form of Bolton and after six overs played the game was evenly poised at 23/1. After the wicket, it was Alyssa Healy took the charge of the side and targeted Pandey as she conceded 19 runs in the eighth over. Meg Lanning tried to build a partnership with Healy but Sharma managed to send her back in the 11th over before she could become a danger for the hosts. In the next four overs, the Aussie eves could only add nine runs to their team’s total. Healy, who was accompanied by Ellyse Perry, tried to make sure that the scoreboard continued to tick as they were kept running while putting away the bad balls to the boundary and after the 20 overs they managed to consolidate their position and reach a score of 108/2. Healy’s half century gave Perry the confidence to go after the bowling and she did just that by taking two boundaries in Pooja Vastrakar’s over. After completing half of their innings, Australia had managed to amass 131 for the loss of two wickets.

Middle order pyrotechnics take Australia past 300

The Indian bowlers tried to restrict the run flow and Pandey got the much-needed wicket on the first ball of the 29th over and sent Perry back. In the next five overs, the Australian players added 30 runs to the scoreboard with Healy scoring her first ODI hundred. In the 37th over of the game, Bisht gave 10 runs which helped the opponent team to reach 200-run mark. In the very next over, Healy targeted Pandey, who conceded 18 runs, including four boundaries from Healy’s willow. Poonam Yadav, finally, managed the wicket of the Aussie wicketkeeper who returned to the pavilion after scoring 133 runs. In the 42nd over, Rachael Haynes also joined Healy back in the dressing room as she was run out after contributing 43 runs. Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner ensured that the run-rate didn’t dip and scored runs at a quick pace. But Gardner lost her wicket to Harmanpreet Kaur which introduce Nicola Carey as the next player who didn’t waste time and join the party by playing 17-run innings in 15 deliveries including three boundaries. 24-year-old Mooney held the wicket at one end and whenever she got the chance she scored as she returned with 35 runs while facing only 19 runs and in her short appearance she managed five boundaries which helped the side to score 332/7 after the end of their allotted 50 overs.

India stumble after Smriti Mandhana provides yet another good start

Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues knew that if they wanted to deny the clean sweep in the three-match ODI series, they needed to start well. And it was the latter who took charge by claiming two boundaries in the very first over of the innings. Mandhana also joined the party and struck two fours in the fourth over to take the team’s score to 27/0. The opening duo continued their effort and after eight overs they completed 50-run partnership. Over the next three overs, Mandhana managed four more boundaries and the Indians were going along well with a run-rate of 7.18. After scoring 35 runs off 20 deliveries, Ashleigh Gardner helped her side with the ball as she managed to get the wickets of both Indian players while India managed to reach the 100-run mark at the end of the 14th over. Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur knew the need of a good partnership and they started to doing exactly that. They built a partnership slowly and steadily and in the next six overs added 40 runs together. But Kaur failed to keep the stand going as in the 22nd over she lost her wicket and the team were left struggling at 147/3. In the next three over team added 16 runs and at the midway point of the game which meant that the hosts needed 170 runs in the remaining 25 overs.

Australia inflict whitewash on India with 98 run win

Deepti Sharma, along with her skipper tried to pull out the team from the tricky situation they found themselves in, and added 15 runs in the next 18 delivers. But, in the 29th over of the game, India suffered a setback in the form of Mithali Raj as she failed to keep her head and while attempting to slog returned back after scoring 21 runs in 38 deliveries. Mona Meshram also failed to offer any sort of stability to the team and soon joined Raj in the dressing room with the team’s score at 182/5. Knowing that India needed 151 runs in 120 balls, Sushma Verma started playing a patient innings which led to the Aussie bowling department restricting the run flow as in the next six overs they conceded only 15 runs. In the 37th over of the game, India earned ten runs with the help of a maximum from Verma’s willow. Megan Schutt’s slower ball in the 39th over ended Verma’s innings who contributed 30 runs. Ellyse Perry’s over came as a bad phase for the Indian side as the Aussie bowler managed to get Sharma and Shikha Pandey’s wicket on consecutive deliveries. With India needing 108 runs in the next 60 balls with two wickets in hand, it was just a matter of a time before Australia wrapped up the whitewash. The host could only manage eight runs in the next 28 deliveries before the final wicket fell. Eventually, India fell 98 runs short of their eventual target.