McKay: India’s weaknesses in the batting and bowling department were exposed as Australia beat the visiting team by nine wickets in the first women’s ODI to win a record 25 matches. India, who regularly aim to post 250-plus to challenge the likes of Australia, could only manage 225 for eight in an innings they never needed.
Mithali Raj crosses 20,000 international career milestones against Australia
Captain Mithali Raj (61 off 107) registered her fifth consecutive half-century, her 59th overall, while other contributions were debutants Yastika Bhatia (35 off 51), Richa Ghosh (32 not out in 29) and the veteran pacer. The bowler came from Jhulan Goswami. (20 out of 24). Australia chased down the target in 41 overs as India’s bowling lacked teeth to trouble them. The four-time World Cup winner last lost an ODI in October 2017.
After a quiet start of 30 runs in eight overs, Australian openers Alyssa Healy (77 off 77) and Rachel Haynes (93 not out off 100) switched gears to walk away from the game. Healy played an aggressive knock in his 126-run stand which included eight fours and two sixes. She will eventually get caught at mid-off trying to hit another off the ground off Poonam Yadav.
Haynes and captain Meg Lanning (53 not out in 69) then shared a 101 run partnership to give Australia a resounding victory. India, who have made three debuts in the game including Ghosh, Yastika and pacer Mansi Singh, have a lot of thinking and planning ahead of the second ODI of the three-match series.
Barring a specialist left-arm spinner, India’s decision to pack the eleven with three all-rounders in Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar did not work for India. Megha impressed with her ability to swing the ball while Jhulan bowled as clean as ever, but India could never put Australia under pressure. On the batting front, if the visitors didn’t cross the 220-run mark for the eight-wicket stand of 45 between Jhulan and Ghosh, who was picked ahead of Tania Bhatia, she was picked to add much-needed firepower. .
India’s openers Shafali Verma (8) and Smriti Mandhana (16), on whom the team relies heavily for quick starts, ended after hitting a few boundaries. They need to be persistent to move forward. The bowlers have identified a clear weakness in Shafali’s game and do not offer front-foot deliveries. The 17-year-old was once again dismissed for a short ball with the wicketkeeper taking a catch on the leg-side of fast bowler Darcy Brown. Brown (4/33) was the stand-out bowler for Australia, while debutants Hannah Darlington (2/29) and Sophie Molyneux (2/39) took a couple each. Mithali was hit on the helmet by an Ellyse Perry bouncer but she went on to bat.
India’s senior batsman Harmanpreet Kaur could not play the match due to a thumb injury.
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