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Jhulan Goswami, Yastika Bhatia lead the way as India women halt Australia winning run
The visitors clinch tense two-wicket win in the final ODI, halting Australia’s record winning streak at 26 in Mackay. The hosts won the series 2-1.
Jhulan Goswami has played almost two decades of international cricket. That experience has taught her to remain gritty and move forward after every low. The 38-year-old pace bowler has had mixed feelings in the last couple of days. On Friday, Goswami was in the spotlight after what she thought was a match-winning final delivery was called, a touch controversially, no-ball for height. It handed Australia a lifeline and then victory in the second ODI and an unassailable lead in the series. India were dismayed.
On Sunday, Goswami shook off that disappointment with a brilliant bowling effort, claiming 3/37 to hand India belief to fight on despite it being an inconsequential final game. She then hit the winning boundary in the final over that helped India women complete a brilliant chase with three deliveries and two wickets in hand at Mackay.
Significantly, India’s victory snapped Australia’s world-record ODI winning streak at 26 matches. Goswami’s remarkable spell saw the hosts finish at 264/9. India survived middle-order hiccups to reach 266/8.
After hitting the winning four off left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, Goswami’s smile said it all. India’s backbone for over 19 years, she was utterly disappointed to lose on Friday. She turned it around in style, achieving 600 career wickets when she had Australia skipper Meg Lanning caught behind for duck.
“We were just trying to stay there and finish the game. On Friday, it was difficult for bowlers, and today as the senior bowler, I wanted to stand up and use the new ball well,” said Goswami, named Player-of-the-Match. Goswami has 240 ODI wickets at an average of 21.59. The win took India’s multi-match series points to 2 against Australia’s 4.
“I knew I could get breakthroughs. That was what I did. It’s important to give your best in the field, take positives and that’s what I want to do as a senior. There is lot of soreness in my body, having played back-to-back games. It needs time to recover, but we are looking forward to being a part of the first-ever pink-ball Test.”
India bowled better than the first two games, and but for slip-ups in the field and dropped catches could have restricted Australia to less. Medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar took 3/46 while the hosts’ batting was led by Ashleigh Gardner (67), Beth Mooney (52) and Tahlia McGrath (47).
Openers Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma delivered a solid 59-run stand. Of late, India’s batting success has revolved around them. Mandana, who scored 86 in the previous game, fell to Gardner’s off-break for 22. Yastika Bhatia joined Verma and extended her excellent run on her maiden India tour.
Selected for all formats on the tour, the 21-year-old left-handed batter from Vadodara has made an impression with her swashbuckling efforts. Having scored 41 in the warm-up loss to Australia and 35 on ODI debut, she top-scored with a crucial 64 to set up India’s successful chase. Promoted to No 3, her versatile shots underlined Bhatia’s confidence and technique. The 17-year-old Verma showed great maturity and restraint in her approach, focusing on rotating the strike and allowing Bhatia to attack the bowling more. Verma scored 56 (91b, 7x4).
Their 101-run partnership was broken when Verma, having completed her maiden ODI fifty, took on left-arm Sophie Molineux to be bowled. Bhatia fell after India had added 20 runs (64 - 69b, 9x4)
Bhatia’s success at No 3 resolves India team’s top-order woes. With Harmanpreet Kaur injured, India has missed an impactful one-drop batter. Verma’s anchoring effort set up the chase nicely for India. Skipper Mithali Raj, who has been under fire for her slow strike rate in ODIs, struggled and was caught behind for 16 (28b). However, Deepti Sharma (31- 30b) and Sneh Rana (30, 27b) kept the asking rate under control.
“It was important to bounce back from the second match. That loss hurt us, but it did set up the girls as they knew we could put up a good score. It was good to chase today. We are good at chasing, but the last game gave us confidence going into today’s match,” Raj said.
The India women have stopped Australia's winning streak that began with Alyssa Healy's side beating hosts India 3-0 in 2018.
The standalone pink-ball Test starts on September 30, followed by three T20s. It would be interesting to see how much this confidence-boosting victory reflects in India’s performances.
