Australia took the lead in the three-match ODI series by beating the Indian women’s team in the first game at Reliance Stadium in Vadodara on Monday. The Aussies showed their intent to dominate the series by first bowling out India for just 200 runs and then chasing the target with 17 overs to spare.
Already playing without their lead pacer Jhulan Goswami, India suffered another setback in the morning as its skipper Mithali Raj too had to sit out due to viral fever. The hosts began their innings on a confident note after winning the toss and choosing to bat first. Openers Poonam Raut and Smriti Mandhana played some fluent strokes to cobble up 38 runs in 9 overs. But Smriti mistimed a flighted delivery off Ashleigh Gardener as Aussie skipper Meg Lanning took a simple catch at mid-on. Jemimah Rodrigues too fell soon as she edged behind a delivery off Amanda Wellington. Raut was trapped leg before by Wellington on 37 and India were reduced to 60 for three in 18th over.
With wickets falling at the other end, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur played a cautious game scoring just nine off 29 deliveries before falling to Megan Schutt. She was caught behind while trying to steer Schutt down to third man region. Veda Krishnamurty tried to counter attack Aussies but Wellington removed her in 31st over leaving India tottering at 110 for six. Pooja Vastrakar and Sushma Verma stitched a valuable ninth-wicket partnership of 76 runs to save India from an abject collapse.
Pooja scored her first ODI fifty, while Verma (41 off 71 balls) stood firmly at the other end. Thanks to some sluggish fielding and a dropped catch, India managed to reach 200 but it was always going to be an inadequate total against a strong Australian batting.
Aussie openers Nicole Bolton and Alyssa Healy went after the Indian bowlers from the word go and took maximum advantage of the fielding restrictions. The duo scored 60 off nine overs before Shikha Pandey removed Healy. But Bolton, who eventually scored a century off 101 balls, continued attacking the bowlers in the company of skipper Meg Lanning.
Harmanpreet praised Pooja for her performance but she had a word of criticism for Smriti and Deepti Sharma who, she felt, threw away their wickets away. “We couldn’t rotate strike too,” Harmanpreet said.
