MUMBAI: India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur dwelled on the positives from the game after the hosts lost the three-match ODI series against Australia on Saturday at the Wankhede Stadium.
Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead over India following their 3-run victory in the second 50-over affair.
India’s sloppy fielding was on exhibition as they dropped seven catches which in return helped Australia to keep the scoreboard moving and put up a challenging total of 258/8.
“I think we bowled well today, we planned about picking wickets. Lots of positives from the game, but they took the game away from us in the end. We could have shown some more awareness. Ghosh played a good role, looking forward to the next game now,” Harmanpreet said after the game.
“They have a very long batting line-up, so restricting them below 300 was a positive. I think that (dropped catches) is part of a game. We have been playing in the heat and playing a lot of cricket, so we need to bounce back, that’s important,” Harmanpreet added.
Richa Ghosh acted as the driving force throughout India’s chase of 259 against a fierce Australian bowling line-up. Her knock brought India close yet they fell so far away from bringing the series to level terms.
Deepti got close to her maiden ton as she stood just four runs short of her much-deserved three figures.
She went for the glory, committed to the drive but to her luck, the ball went straight to Phoebe Litchfield off Annabel Sutherland’s delivery.
Wickets kept falling at one end as Deepti Sharma stood unbeaten on the other end. After Harleen Deol’s dismissal, India needed 16 runs in the final over.
Alyssa Healy handed the ball to Sutherland to see off the game. On the first ball, Deepti struck a four to bring down the occasion to 12 runs in 5 balls.
Sutherland recovered in the next two balls which also saw Shreyanka Patil’s catch dropped. With nine needed in the final two balls, Sutherland kept composure and bowled slower delivers away from the batter to see off the game for Australia. (ANI)