India opener Pratika Rawal returned to action after recovering from knee and ankle injuries she sustained before the ODI World Cup 2025 semifinals. Pratika got her opening spot back from Shafali Verma who excelled in her role, winning the ‘Player of the match’ for her all-round show against South Africa in the final. Pratika who walked in at an average over 50 in ODIs had a short-lived stay at the crease in the three-ODI series opener at Allan Border Field, Brisbane.
Opening alongside Smriti Mandhana, Pratika was trapped in front of the stumps by Megan Schutt. The ball swung in sharply and breached the opener's defense. She opted for the DRS but it did not go her way. She returned to the pavilion for a two-ball duck. This was the first time she was dismissed for a duck in her ODI career.
Pratika’s ODI numbers vs Australia
This was also the first time she was playing an ODI on Australian soil. Despite the duck, she has a decent record against Australia, scoring 174 runs from five innings at an average of 34.80, featuring two fifties.
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Shafali dismissed cheaply too
As Pratika returned, Shafali walked in to bat at no.3. Shafali was cautious against the new ball. The pressure of dot balls got the better of her. In the eighth over, she was out caught and bowled by Darcie Brown. She managed to score just four runs from 17 balls.
INDW vs AUSW Playing XIs -
Australia Playing XI: Alyssa Healy(c), Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Beth Mooney (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Alana King, Megan Schutt, Darcie Brown.
India Playing XI: Smriti Mandhana, Pratika Rawal, Shafali Verma, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Shree Charani, Kranti Gaud, Renuka Singh Thakur.
The players benched are Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry and Vaishnavi Sharma. Kashvee Gautam made a comeback to the ODI side after over 10 months.
Australia had to make forced changes as Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth picked up injuries during the recently concluded three-T20I series.