If the men in blue won four out of the eight matches Down Under, India eves were no less as they matched their male counterparts winning three out of six matches. After winning the T20 series 2-1, India had a rocky ODI series as they lost it 1-2, winning the last ODI on 7th Feb at Tasmania.
Winning the toss and opting to bat first, Australia put on board a defendable 231-7 in 50 overs, courtesy twin half centuries from Ellyse Perry (50) and Alex Blackwell (60). The visitors bowled well to restrict the hosts for 230 odd runs. Jhulan Goswami (1-33) led from the front and received good support from Shikha Pandey (3-50) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2-41). The Indians went all out for this game as they had nothing to lose. They played good positive cricket and had their tails up and swinging.
As India had scored close to 250 runs in the 2nd ODI, chasing 232 runs didn’t seem to be a daunting task. Southpaw Smriti Mandhana fresh from her maiden ODI century picked up from where she had left and cruised to yet another half century, scoring 55 runs off just 52 balls. Skipper Mithali Raj (82) played one of the best innings of her life and helped India achieve the target with ease. Harmanpreet Kaur (29) and Punam Raut (24*) chipped in as well. As we have seen all through the tournament the tremendous contributions of Aussie all-rounder Ellyse Perry, she struck once again in this match, grabbing 2-51 in her 10 overs.
Mithali Raj was declared as the Man of the Match and Ellyse Perry as the Man of the Series.
Photo source: espncricinfo
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