When India went from 182/7 to 282/8 on the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday, they registered their highest whole in opposition to Australia in girls’s ODIs. It didn’t appear possible for many a part of India’s batting innings, nevertheless it was a nice restoration.
Too unhealthy then, that in entrance of them, are the undoubted champions of this format. Australia made it appear like a stroll within the park as they registered the second-highest profitable run-chase in girls’s ODIs. Chasing 283, the world champions scored 285/4 in 46.3 overs to take a 1-0 lead within the three-match collection with an emphatic six-wicket win.
No Lanning? No drawback
That that is Australia’s first white-ball collection for the reason that official retirement of Meg Lanning is well-known, and there have been a couple of inquiries to Alyssa Healy about how massive a captaincy legacy she was taking on from. However the one factor that shouldn’t be underestimated is the absence of Lanning, the batter who was by far the perfect chaser in girls’s ODIs. Nobody has scored extra runs than in her in profitable run-chases, and a whopping 10 out of her file 15 centuries got here in these wins.
Australia win the first ODI by 6 wickets.#TeamIndia will goal to bounce again within the subsequent sport 🙌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/MDbv7Rm75J#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/BeoV1pOidJ
— BCCI Girls (@BCCIWomen) December 28, 2023
And so Australia cruising to a win in Mumbai with loads nonetheless left within the tank was a powerful marker laid down by Healy’s facet. Ellyse Perry, batting at No 3, is an imperious chaser herself and confirmed that the transition goes to be easy sufficient, taking part in a masterful attacking innings of 75. In a knock with eight fours and one six, she took the initiative away from India early, and by no means allow them to again.
Phoebe Litchfield, the 20-year-old earmarked for excellent issues in a post-Lanning period, confirmed nice cricketing smarts to take her time whereas Perry was on track. However she accelerated as soon as she discovered her vary too, ending with 78 and strolling away with the Participant of the Match award. Then there was the thorn in Indian flesh. Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath have made it a behavior to return collectively and put Indian bowling to the sword repeatedly within the latest previous, they usually made it an easy finish to the night with a 67-ball 88-run partnership.
Sure Pez! 👏 #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/Emon1IWk6p
— Australian Girls’s Cricket Group 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) December 28, 2023
Jemimah shines once more
Having opted to bat first, India took the highway less-travelled to a 280-plus whole. First off, they needed to do it with out Smriti Mandhana, who missed the match on account of sickness. Then they misplaced Shafali Verma within the third over, because the batter continued to indicate a worrying incapability to protect her stumps in opposition to the transferring ball.
Regardless of largely scoring at fee (hovering between 4.50 and 5.0 runs per over), India saved shedding common wickets. Each time there was a partnership beginning to construct, Australia struck. It was over to Jemimah Rodrigues to maintain one finish going robust, and he or she performed arguably her greatest ODI innings up to now. Persevering with her good type from the Assessments, and battling exhaustion, she used the sweep and inside-out drives to good impact in opposition to Australia’s spinners to complete with 82, her second-highest rating on this format.
ICYMI!@JemiRodrigues scored a terrific 82 off 77 and steered #TeamIndia to a powerful whole 👏👏#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Relive her knock right here 🎥🔽https://t.co/aWt2i7ZCN7
— BCCI Girls (@BCCIWomen) December 28, 2023
Her eighth-wicket partnership with Pooja Vastrakar was the brightest spot of the day for India. Whereas the potential of India folding earlier than 50 overs loomed giant, they counter-attacked brilliantly with Vastrakar particularly exhibiting her power-hitting expertise ultimately.
India’s defence began off in nice style too however it will show to be a pink herring. One of many issues that Amol Muzumdar stated in his first press convention as India’s girls’s group head coach was to see the facet grow to be higher at fielding. It has lengthy been Harmanpreet’s hope because the captain to see her facet get higher in that division.
Within the first over of Australia’s innings, Renuka Singh Thakur dangled a carrot exterior the off stump to Healy. A quick starter within the white-ball codecs, Healy threw her bat at it and went for the expansive drive. The ball took the surface edge and went within the air, seemingly heading previous the fielder at brief third. However Sneh Rana had different concepts. She threw herself within the air and dived full size to finish a sensational catch.
However India’s fielding would truly transform one of many drawback areas because the depth and high quality dipped whereas the evening went on. There have been loads of misfields whereas Australia managed to maintain the scoreboard ticking with not a lot stress from the bowlers.
A invaluable FIFTY down the order from @Vastrakarp25 😎
And the Wankhede crowd is impressed 😃👌
Observe the Match ▶️ https://t.co/MDbv7Rm75J#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/TCuLpXsvcd
— BCCI Girls (@BCCIWomen) December 28, 2023
Harmanpreet Kaur stated after the match, “We managed to get a defendable whole. Bowlers did their job however fielding didn’t work properly. After some time dew was there, however bowlers did properly to maintain stumps in play. However I used to be sad with our fielding, Australia had been superb at saving runs whereas they fielded.”
After the fairly complete defeat within the Take a look at, Healy was requested if she noticed that end result as maybe some kind of indication that Aussie’s period of dominance may very well be beneath risk. “It’s not even a blip,” she had stated, including that the world is used to seeing them win so usually that they maybe go searching for such indicators. “We’re taking part in some actually good cricket – I’m not too involved about the place we’re at and I feel these subsequent six (white-ball) video games in all probability give us a greater indication about how we’re monitoring, but in addition what we’d want to enhance on.”
And within the first of these matches, they’ve despatched out a convincing reminder of who the bosses of this format nonetheless are.
Temporary scores: India 282/8 in 50 overs (Rodrigues 82, Vastrakar 62 n.o, Bhatia 49, Wareham 2-55, Gardner 2-63) misplaced to Australia 285/4 in 46.3 overs (Perry 78, Litchfield 75, McGrath 68 n.o).