India lost the first ODI to Australia by six wickets despite fifties from Smriti Mandhana (58) and Harmanpreet Kaur (53). Vice-captain Mandhana lamented the pitch conditions as Australia successfully chased down India’s 214.
India started their ODI series against Australia with a six-wicket defeat at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Tuesday. And Indian vice-captain Smriti Mandhana said the wicket didn’t play the way the Indian team thought it would.
Australia came to the match on the back of a 1-2 series defeat in the T20I series. They successfully chased down a 215-run target after halting the visitors to 214.
Mandhana on defeat and Kaur’s injury
During the post-match presentation, stand-in captain Mandhana said, “We started with the bat with two wickets down which is never easy. We did really well in terms of coming back. Wicket didn’t play the way we thought it would.”
Vice-captain Mandhana led the Indian side in Harmanpreet Kaur’s absence after Kaur sustained an injury in her knee while batting. Speaking on Kaur’s injury, Mandhana said, “I haven’t seen her yet, but I think she’ll be fine.”
Speaking about the next two matches in the series, she said, “We’ve been playing good cricket so it’s not like we’ll change much after one loss. We have to come together as a batting unit and post a good total. But we won’t think about it a lot. Have two days, will reflect on it and come back stronger.”
Indian innings falters
Opting to bat first, India Women lost their first wicket in the very first over when Megan Schutt found Pratika Rawal in front of the wickets. Shafali Varma came to bat one down and couldn’t find the momentum and went back after making just four runs off 17 balls. Darcie Brown got her caught and bowled in the eighth over. Jemimah Rodrigues was the next to depart after making just eight runs. Ashleigh Gardner dismissed her soon after the powerplay ended. Beth Mooney took a fine catch behind the wickets.
Smriti Mandhana completed her half-century with a single off Tahlia McGrath in the 20th over. McGrath dismissed Mandhana in her next over at the score of 58. She hit seven fours in her impressive knock.
Deepti Sharma replaced her at the crease and soon departed after making just two runs. Richa Ghosh joined captain Harmanpreet Kaur after that and the duo added 37 runs for the sixth wicket. Ghosh lost her wicket to Sophie Molineux. She made 23 runs off 38 balls, including two boundaries.
All-rounder Kashvee Gautam added 53 runs for the seventh wicket with her skipper before Gardner dismissed Harmanpreet at the score of 53 runs. She played 84 balls and hit three boundaries.
Gautam’s quick 43 with the help of three sixes and as many fours, helped India go past the 200-run mark.
Gardner picked up three wickets for Australia as Schutt took a couple of wickets. Brown, Alana King, McGrath and Molineux shared one wicket each among them.
Next match in Hobart
Now, the Indian team will go to Hobart to play their second ODI match of the series at the Bellerive Oval, scheduled for Friday.
Brief Score
Brief Score: India Women 214/10 in 48.3 overs (Smriti Mandhana 58, Harmanpreet Kaur 53; Ashleigh Gardner 3/33) vs Australia Women 217/4 in 38.2 overs (Beth Mooney 76, Alyssa Healy 50; Shree Charani 2/41).
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