Deepti Sharma’s fifer and Richa Ghosh’s swashbuckling 96-run innings could not yield the desired result, as Australia won the 2nd ODI in a nail-biter by 3 runs, clinching the series 2-0.
Australia got off to a fair start after losing skipper Alyssa Healy early, with Phoebe Litchfield and talisman batter Ellyse Perry notching fifties of their own, before Deepti Sharma began to set out on her hunt for wickets.
The tale of the first innings was the Indian spinners wreaking havoc on the Australian batting lineup.
Debutant Shreyanka Patil helped open Deepti Sharma’s account with a stellar catch to dismiss danger woman Ellyse Perry right after she reached her fifty.
The wickets then kept tumbling as next up was Beth Mooney, who was dismissed for LBW, even after a third umpire appeal from Australia.
Tahlia McGrath was next to follow, as Deepti completely bamboozled and rattled the stumps clean.
For her penultimate wicket, it was Georgia Wareham who fell victim. Wareham went down the wicket to flick the flighted delivery from Deepti but however ended up chipping it straight to Smriti Mandhana at mid-wicket.
For her historic fifer to be completed, it was Annabel Sutherland, who chipped a slow tossed up delivery right back to Deepti who took a sharp catch in her follow-through.
In between, Sneh Rana, who had to leave the field following a nasty collision with Pooja Vastrakar, had Ashleigh Gardner (2) caught at long on for her only wicket.
But Deepti’s exploits notwithstanding, India were simply poor in the field.
Litchfield was dropped when she was yet to open her account by Amanjot Kaur in the second over and then on 10 by Yastika Bhatia at first slip. After, Rana dropped Perry in the 17th over when she was on 30 on her own bowling. And then, Smriti Mandhana spilled a regulation chance in the 44th over when Sutherland was on one off Deepti.
Finally, thanks to a quickfire 28* from 17 balls from Alana King, Australia put up 258 runs in 50 overs to set up a formidable target for the Indian women to chase.
Chasing a challenging total, Yastika Bhatia departed early, while Smriti Mandhana couldn’t capitalize on the start she had gotten off to.
Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues then had a solid partnership for the third wicket. And right when it seemed like India were on track for a cruising win, Jemimah was dismissed by Wareham for 44 runs, leaving Richa Ghosh all by herself to fend for India.
Ghosh kept on piling the runs, but could not find sufficient support on the other end, as the wicket just kept falling. Sutherland and Wareham were in fine form, picking up wickets at critical intervals to keep the pressure on India who were inching closer to the target with every over.
Ghosh, who seemed to be on track for her maiden ODI century, was cruelly dismissed with a length delivery which she chipped straight to Phoebe Litchfield at covers, who took a simple catch. Disappointingly, Ghosh had to return to the dressing room at 96 runs.
The target was still doable, with India needed 41 off 37 balls. But, alas it was not to be as Sutherland took to the lower order, picking off the likes of Amanjot Kaur and Vastrakar in timely intervals to deprive India of their series-tying win.
(with inputs from agencies)
Comments
0 comment