Women in blue put an end to Australia’s long-running winning streak in thrilling run chase

Mithali Raj-led India ended the 26-match unbeaten streak of Australia in ODIs that started in 2017. The visitors chased down the target of 265 in 49.3 overs with two wickets in hand to prevent a clean sweep in the three-ODI series. Earlier, Australian skipper Meg Lanning had won the toss and decided to bat first for the first time in the series. As it was dead-rubber, it was India's last chance to get the better of Australia, especially after the last-ball loss in the previous game.

Australian batting

While batting first, the host posted a challenging target of 264. Jhulan Goswami got rid of Australia’s top-order with the new ball. Goswami got the wickets of Rachel Haynes (13) followed by Lanning for a duck. In the process of weathering the storm, Alyssa Healy (35) also threw her wicket in form of a run-out. Things got critical for the Aussies after the departure of prolific all-rounder Ellyse Perry (26) who has not been in the best of forms of late. 

At one stage the hosts were 87-4, but, then Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner took the charge. The duo put on a 98-run stand to bring Australia back on the track with respective half-centuries. On the score of 185, India got the much-needed breakthrough as Sneh Rana knocked out Mooney on the score of 52. Four overs later, Pooja Vastrakar also got her first wicket of the match when she dismissed Gardner for 67. Down the order, blinder from Tahlia McGrath (47 runs off 32 balls) empowered the Aussies to the challenging total of 264. For India, Goswami and Vastrakar were the pick of the bowlers. They took three wickets each conceding just 37 and 46 runs respectively. 

The Indian chase

Chasing 265, India got off to a blistering start. Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put on 59 runs for the first wicket. In the 11th over of the innings, Mandhana fell for 22 on Gardner’s delivery.

Playing her debut ODI series, Yastika Bhatia carried on her good form and added a century-run stand with Verma, who got cleaned up by Sophie Molineux on the score of 56. Then, Annabel Sutherland got the wicket of Richa Ghosh for a duck. After scoring a fluent 64, Bhatia got out trying to accelerate as skipper Raj was struggling at the other end.

Later on, in her spell, Sutherland got rid of Vastrakar (3) followed by Raj (16) as India were reduced to 208 for six wickets. Some quick fireworks from Deepti Sharma (31) and Sneh Rana brought India back in the game. Rana scored a match-winning knock of 30 runs in just 27 deliveries but got out on the fourth ball of the penultimate over just when the visitors were at the doorstep of victory.

Eventually, the match again went to the last over. This time, Goswami made up for the two no balls in the previous game's final over and finished it with a boundary to help India register their first win of the tour. The veteran was named player of the match for her all-round performance.