New Delhi: The Indian women’s cricket team, after enjoying a dominant run with the red ball against Australia and England women’s teams, registered back-to-back wins in the test series against both sides in a span of seven days.
However, they were hit with a lack of experience once again when the Aussie women’s team outclassed the women in blue in back-to-back ODI matches to take an unassailable lead of 2-0 in the three-match series.
Harmanpreet and company will now be looking to register a win in the last match of the series in a battle of pride and gain some momentum going into the T20I series against the same opponents.
The third match of the series will be played at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday from 1:30 p.m. IST.
Eyes on batters
One department that clicked for both the teams in the series is their batting department, as in both the matches, the batters have been able to put a decent score up on the scoreboard, so much so that the Aussies have to perform a record chase in the first ODI in order to register a win.
For the women in blue, Shefali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Pooja Vastrakar and Richa Ghosh all are chipping in to get their team out of trouble with collective efforts.
FIFTY for @13richaghosh – her 3⃣rd ODI half-century! 👏 👏
This has been a fine knock 👍
P.S. – That reaction from @JemiRodrigues & the dug out 🤗
That’s the 𝗠. 𝗢. 𝗢. 𝗗 ☺️
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/tcRzOw7Tox#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/dK1Pr89k1v
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2023
However, the Indian side would love to have their skipper, Harmanpreet Kaur, in form for the final match to benefit from her hard-hitting playing style.
On the other hand, Aussies Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Peery, and Thalia McGrath all played big innings to take their team over the line.
“To play in India, I’d come for free”
🗣️ Phoebe Litchfield is excited to feature in #WPL2024 😁#INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/uwAfp4VLu1
— Women’s CricZone (@WomensCricZone) December 29, 2023
However, just like the Indian side, Aussies would also want their skipper Alyssa Healy, to step in the final match and add some runs into her account before the start of the T20I series.
𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙡 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙘𝙝! 🤯
What a grab THAT from @SnehRana15 to dismiss Alyssa Healy in the first over🔥🔥#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/kKtIfA1AHh
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 28, 2023
Bowlers in trouble
How has @Deepti_Sharma06 been working on her bowling❓
Hear what the #TeamIndia all-rounder said 🔽#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/JiNoBihGOj
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 1, 2024
The bowling efforts of both the teams are exactly opposite of their batting efforts, which can be considered inconsistent, as except for Annabel Sutherland and Deepti Sharma in the second match of the series, all the other bowlers have looked miserable and need to step up if they want their team to win the final match of the series.
