Litchfield, Perry, McGrath fifties help clinical Australia go 1-0 up

Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield made India’s above-par score of 282 look less threatening as Australia went 1-0 up in the first of the three ODIs at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday. Losing Alyssa Healy in the first over of the innings, Litchfield and Perry notched up 78 and 75 respectively, with Tahlia McGrath contributing a valuable unbeaten 68 as Australia recorded the second highest run chase in women’s ODIs.

This was after Jemimah Rodrigues’s classy 82 and Pooja Vastrakar’s  fighting 62 not out at No.9 on a sultry Mumbai afternoon propelled India to their highest ODI total against Australia.

Perry’s intent was clear from the beginning as she started off briskly to keep up with the required run rate of 5.66. The allrounder smashed nine fours and two clean sixes in her 72-ball innings while the left-handed Litchfield gave us a glimpse of the future of Australia’s batting with her calculative knock. She began the innings by just stroking to get accustomed to the conditions and once she got settled in, Litchfield began to find boundaries with the sweep, reverse sweep and punches off the back foot. Playing her 12th ODI, first in India, Litchfield scored eight boundaries and a six in her 89-ball knock. The left-right duo stitched together 148 off 150 balls, and by the time Perry was dismissed by Deepti Sharma in the 26th over, the foundation was well laid for the chase.

Beth Mooney and McGrath capitalised on the start to put on another 88 runs off just 67 deliveries and made the chase look effortless as the wicket became better to bat on. Vastrakar cleaned up Mooney for 42 in the 42nd over, but it was too late for India to bounce back with little help from the bowlers in the second innings. McGrath, in her first tour as full-time vice-captain, stayed till the end to complete the formalities with six wickets in hand.

Earlier, India fought back from early jitters after losing Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh and Harmanpreet Kaur early in the innings. The notable absentee from their XI was vice-captain and opener Smriti Mandhana,  who was unwell and unavailable for selection. However,

Until the eighth-wicket stand between Rodrigues and Vastrakar, Australia did not allow any pair to settle in. Six of the seven bowlers picked up at least a wicket each after they were asked to bowl first on a track offering turn.

Rodrigues, who carried forward her Test form into ODIs, was visibly wilting in the heat, but she ran hard, swept hard and drove through covers to notch up her fifth fifty in her 25th ODI. After sharing 38, 39 and 45 runs with Bhatia, Deepti Sharma and Amanjot Kaur respectively, she found Vastrakar’s help to put on 68 runs – the only fifty-plus partnership of the innings – for the eighth wicket.

Rodrigues’ 77-ball stay had seven fours while Vastrakar hit seven fours and two sixes in her 46-ball knock. After Rodrigues’ dismissal in the 47th over, Vastrakar blasted her way to her fourth ODI fifty off 39 balls in the penultimate over, yet again proving her batting credentials lower down the order.

All four of Vastrakar’s ODI fifties have come while batting at No.8 or lower. No other woman has scored more than two fifties while batting at No.8 or lower in ODIs.

It looked like India saved the best for the last phase, accumulating 82 runs in the final ten overs. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome Meg Lanning-less Australia. For the visitors, Wareham and Ashleigh Gardner were crucial in scalping two wickets each.

Brief scores:
Australia women 285 for 4 in 46.3 overs  (Ellyse Perry 75, Phoebe Litchfield 78, Beth Mooney 42, Tahlia McGrath 68*) beat  India women 282 for 8 in 50 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 82, Deepti Sharma 21, Pooja Vastrakar 62*, Yastika Bhatia 49, Amanjot Kaur 20,  Richa Ghosh 21; Georgia Wareham 2-55, Ashleigh Gardner 2-63) by six wickets