India eye another first ahead of World Cup, seek maiden series win vs Australia | Cricket News
NEW DELHI: The ODI series decider between India and Australia women at the Arun Jaitley Stadium here on Saturday will be the final pit stop for both teams before they embark on a month-long World Cup sojourn traversing the length and breadth of the country. After the historic high of an away limited-overs series win (both ODIs and T20Is) against England, Indian women have a chance to achieve something bigger. A victory on Saturday will not only give Harmanpreet Kaur and her team a first-ever ODI series win over Australia but will also serve as the perfect boost going into the big tournament in 10 days’ time.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!After a lacklustre show in the opener at Mullanpur, India bounced back in style in the second ODI at the same venue as their bowlers complemented the efforts of their batters to end Alyssa Healy’s team’s 13-match winning streak.“It was crucial to win that second ODI. It brings a lot of confidence heading into the World Cup. Our coach’s (Amol Muzumdar) motto is to ‘fight back’. And in our mind, it is always there — to fight till the end,” allrounder Sneh Rana said. The Indian batting has relied heavily on the contributions of their top order, especially Smriti Mandhana in the series. The southpaw has been in red-hot form in the two matches, scoring 58 and 117 at an overall strike rate of 113.63.While her opening partner Pratika Rawal and No. 3 Harleen Deol scored half-centuries in the opener, the performance of the middle and lower order has not been up to scratch.The bowlers, however, showed a marked improvement in the second game with all six who rolled their arm over, getting into the wicket’s column with young seamer Kranti Goud emerging as the most impressive of the lot. But the biggest let down has been their fielding as India have dropped 10 catches in the two matches.Australia would be smarting from the heaviest defeat they suffered in their ODI history. They would be keen to clinch the series against India and prove that the loss was an aberration. “It (the second ODI) kind of shows the powerhouse that India are and I guess the strengths they possess. We got outplayed in all facets of the game and I guess looking forward there are plenty of things we can change going into tomorrow’s match,” said Aussie allrounder Ashleigh Gardner.
