MUMBAI: Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Wareham helped Australia Women clinch a 190-run win against India to whitewash the hosts in the ODI series at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday.
The visitors did not give a chance to the Indian batting lineup to make a quality partnership and chase the given target. Wareham led the Aussie bowling attack and bundled the hosts at 148 in the 33rd over of the second inning.
Smriti Mandhana (29 runs from 29 balls) and Deepti Sharma (25* runs from 39 balls) were the only standout batters for the ‘Women in Blue’ and no other player could stand on the crease in front of the Aussie bowling attack. Mandhana tried her best in the initial moments of the inning after she smashed 5 fours but it was not enough.
Australia were sensational with their bowling attack to defend the 339-run target. Wareham bagged three wickets in her 6.4 over spell and gave 23 runs. Megan Schutt, Alana King, and Annabel Sutherland picked up two wickets in their respective spells.
The Aussies were also good with their fielding and took four stunning catches. Alana King, Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath and Beth Mooney made their fielding coach proud and displayed a dominant performance in the game.
Litchfield received the ‘Player of the Match’ and ‘Player of the Series’ following her performance in the three-match ODI series against India.
Australia skipper Alyssa Healy opted to bat first in Mumbai after winning the toss. Her decision did not go wrong as the visitors set a target of 339 runs.
Aussie opener Litchfield (119 runs from 125 balls) and Healy (82 runs from 85 balls) played a solid 189-run partnership to get the upper hand in the game and the team posted 338/7.
Following the dismissal of the openers, Ashleigh Gardner (30 runs from 27 balls) and Annabel Sutherland (23 runs from 21 balls) took control of the batting lineup and kept the runs coming.
Georgia Wareham (11* runs from 8 balls) and Alana King (26* runs from 14 balls) were unbeaten and gave a late push to the innings.
Shreyanka Patil impressed in her second ODI and scalped three wickets in her 10-over spell while conceding 57 runs. Patil picked up three crucial wickets in the middle phase of the inning. Amanjot Kaur bagged two wickets.
Brief Score: Australia 338/7 (Phoebe Litchfield 119, Alyssa Healy 82; Shreyanka Patil 3-57) vs India 148 (Smriti Mandhana 29; Georgia Wareham 3-23, Annabel Sutherland 2-9). (ANI)