Australia clinches ODI series win against India with outstanding performances from Voll and Perry

Richa Ghosh led the charge with a half-century, supported by solid knocks in the 40s from Jemimah Rodrigues and debutant Minnu Mani. Despite their efforts, India fell short in the chase and were bowled out for 249 in the 45th over, leaving them with a tough task ahead.

“I think we got some partnerships in between despite a big total,” said skipper Harmanpreet Kaur after the match. “But we were short by a few runs. We created a few opportunities with the ball but we couldn’t take it. They batted really well, credit to them. In bowling, we need to go back and think about plans. We expected some more movement but we didn’t get that here. We need to bat a bit longer and bat the full 50 overs moving forward. We had a few 40s but couldn’t convert it to fifty or hundred.”

After Australia opted to bat, Voll and Litchfield were off to a slow start in the powerplay but accelerated after settling down. There was a run out scare when Voll was on 23, Litchfield got a life too, but they emerged out of that phase to pile on the runs. Litchfield was dismissed on 60 but Voll displayed immaculate game sense to bring up her first hundred. Guiding Voll throughout her innings was Perry, who clubbed a 75-ball 105, hitting a record six sixes and becoming the fourth women’s player from Australia to pass 4,000 ODI runs. Beth Mooney provided the finishing touches with a brutal 44-ball 56, practically taking the game out of India’s grasp.

Faced with their highest ever chase in ODI history, India sent Ghosh — Priya Punia had opened in the first match — with Smriti Mandhana, but they never got the desired start after the vice-captain chopped Kim Garth onto her stumps in the fourth over. Harleen Deol’s tryst with No. 3 continued to yield low returns as she drove away from her body for a soft dismissal. Kaur, as usual, proved a stabilising factor as she added 66 for the third wicket before Ghosh was bowled around her legs by Alana King.

Like in the first match, Rodrigues again chipped in with a busy 39-ball 43 but the momentum started to wane when Kaur and Deepti Sharma were dismissed in the space of 20 balls. And once Rodrigues was dismissed in the 35th over — spearing Sophie Molineux for a simple catch at mid-off—the chase was as good as over. The inconsequential third ODI will be played in Perth on Wednesday.

Brief scores: Australia 371/8 in 50 overs (Ellyse Perry 105, Georgia Voll 101, Phoebe Litchfield 60, Beth Mooney 56; Saima Thakor 3/62, Minnu Mani 2/71) beat India 249 all out in 44.5 overs (Richa Ghosh 54, Minnu Mani 46*, Jemimah Rodrigues 43; Annabel Sutherland 4/39) by 122 runs.