Australia started the 3 match ODI series against the hosts India with a commanding 8 wicket in first One day international of ICC World Championship tournament, played at Reliance Stadium, Vadodara just finished a few moments ago. It was a dominating performance by Australia who bowled well to restrict India to 200 and reached the target with ease.
Indian stand-in captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first earlier today. Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Raut gave a solid start putting on 38 runs for the first wicket. Smriti Mandhana tried to hit a big shot and was dismissed for 12 runs. At the end of 10 overs, India scored 44 runs for 1 wicket.
After the powerplay overs, the Indian team lost wickets at regular intervals. Rodrigues was dismissed for 1. Poonam Raut who was looking good could go beyond 37 runs. Deepti Sharma played some positive strokes before being caught by Carey. The captain Harmanpreet Kaur did not score much being dismissed for 9 runs off 29 balls. Veda Krishnamurthy also was dismissed for 16 runs. At one stage Indian women’s team were struggling at 113 for 7 in the 32nd over.
Pooja Vastrakar and wicketkeeper Sushma Verma steadied the innings with good positive hitting. Both of them added 76 runs for the 8th wicket which put some respectable total on the board. Pooja playing her debut ODI match scored her half-century off 55 balls. Indian women were bowled out for 200 in 50 overs. For Australia, Wellington picked 3 wickets while Jonassen was the top wicket taker with 4 wickets.
Chasing the modest total of 201, Australian openers Nichole Bolton and Healy gave the team flying start putting on 60 runs in 9.1 overs. Healy put the pressure on Indian bowlers by playing positive strokes and not let them settle to a line and length. At the end of 10 overs, Australia scored 67 runs for 1 wicket.
After the power play overs, Bolton and Lanning continued their aggressive intent against Indian spinners. The left-handed Bolton reached her fifty off 57 balls. Both Lanning and Bolton added 68 runs for the second wicket. Lanning was run out for 33.
Ellyse Perry and Bolton made sure that Australia reached the target with ease. Bolton completed her century off 101 balls. Australia won the match by 8 wickets with 107 balls to spare.
Australian women 202 for 2 in 32.1 overs (Nichole Bolton 100*, Healy 38, Lanning 33, Shikha Pandey 1/38) beat
Indian women 200 in 50 overs (Vastrakar 51, Sushma Verma 41, Jonassen 4/30, Wellington 3/24) by 8 wickets
The second match of ODI series will be played on 15th March at the same stadium.