VADODARA: Before the start of the series, India women’s win-loss record against Australia at home stood at 4-14. The number of wins did not change, as India lost the third and final ODI by 97 runs on Sunday.
The last time India won a match against Australia at home was in February 2007. After that, six matches were played and the hosts lost all. Though Australia outplayed Mithali Raj & Co in all three departments to clinch the series 3-0, India had chances to bounce back in the last two games.
There were questionable selections like bringing in Mona Meshram for Veda Krishnamurthy, and their fielding was poor as usual, with five catches being dropped in this clash. But it was the opportunities that India missed in death bowling which stood out as a sore thumb.
Opting to bowl in the second ODI, India were expected to restrict Australia to around 250 or thereabouts, given that the run-rate was 4.74 till 35 overs. At that stage, the visitors were 166 for four. But India leaked runs, were set a target of 289 and ended up getting all out for 227.
On Sunday, Australia captain Meg Lanning won the toss and opted to bat. Her team was 188 for three after 35 overs. At that scoring rate, they would have reached 268. But India conceded much more and Australia finished their day with the bat at 332.
Though India missed veteran Jhulan Goswami during these crunch situations, the inability of the rest to find the right length and line or to bowl according to the field was too evident. Having a packed on-side field and bowling on the off meant there were easy boundaries for Australia.
It became worse in the final match when left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht left the field with a finger injury in the 40th over, after bowling 7.3 overs. With a career economy rate of 3.56 in ODIs and going at 5.06 in this match, she also took the important wicket of Nicole Bolton.
This forced skipper Mithali to use Jemimah Rodrigues, Mona and Harmanpreet Kaur in the final overs. Mona and Jemimah combined went for 30 in three overs.
“I think our fast bowling unit, other than Shikha (Pandey), lacks experience. This is Pooja’s (Vastrakar) first ODI series, where she’s been the main bowler. In South Africa we had Jhulan. So there are areas where we lacked experience, and that became very stark during these ODIs,” remarked Mithali.
“When you play against a good side you don’t get anything easy. You need to put in all your experience. When it comes to bowling, other than spinners, we struggled in the middle. Pooja failed to get momentum and we were down when Ekta got injured. There is a lot we need to work on. It is an eye-opener for all the girls. Nor did our batting come good. At least one department needs to click.”
Healy stars for Aussies
A maiden international century from Alyssa Healy helped Australia reach 332/7, their first ODI total above 300 since 2012. The total is also their highest-ever against India, and their third-highest in ODI history. The 27-year-old stumper batswoman’s 133 came from 115 balls, and was studded with 17 fours and two sixes.
srinidhi@newindianexpress.com