Harmanpreet Kaur finds villain in India's series-losing defeat against Australia in 2nd ODI

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur openly admitted that consecutive defeats against Australia in the opening two ODIs were primarily due to poor batting performances. While India initially showed promise by winning the preceding T20I series 2-1, they have been unable to translate that success into the longer format, leaving them looking for a win in the final ODI on Sunday.

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We didn’t bat well, and that really cost us: Harmanpreet Kaur

The ongoing series, which follows an all-format points system and includes a one-off Test, saw India put up a competitive total of 251/9 in the second ODI, highlighted by fifties from Harmanpreet (54) and Pratika Rawal (52). However, these efforts were overshadowed by lackluster fielding. India paid a heavy price for dropping multiple crucial catches, allowing Australia to comfortably chase down the target and secure a five-wicket victory with 13.5 overs to spare.

“Well, definitely we didn’t bat well today because as a group we decided that let’s bat first and put a 300-plus total on the board because today’s pitch was far better than the previous one. But unfortunately, we again made the same mistakes and we kept losing wickets in between, and that’s why we were short of lots of runs," Harmanpreet said after the match.

“No matter whether we bat first or second, we have to bat really well because whenever we bat well, we’re always in a good situation. In the last two games we didn’t bat well, and that really cost us. It’s only about batting well and batting deep, and hopefully in the next game we’ll do that," Harmanpreet added.

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Alyssa Healy looks to retire on a high

Meanwhile, Australian skipper Alyssa Healy has announced she will retire from international cricket following the conclusion of this current series. She has already ensured her tenure ends on a high note, leading the side to yet another series victory after securing back-to-back wins in the opening two matches.

"I'm really pumped with that result. Like I said the other night, I was ecstatic with the way that we went about that chase. And to do it again tonight, even better, I thought, was outstanding. Pretty pleased with that. It was one of those weird ones where I felt like they were well short of a par score, but at the same time, it was frustrating for us, and I felt like we could have got them out a little bit earlier. But to keep them to 250 on that sort of wicket was just an outstanding effort from our group. We felt pretty well ahead at the halfway mark; we just had to get it done," Healy said following Australia's win over India.