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Women’s ODI World Cup: Loss to Australia leaves India facing two must-win games
Favourites Australia eased to a six-wicket win, chasing a World Cup record 278, at Eden Park, Auckland. It sent the winners into the semi-finals of the Women’s ODI Cricket World Cup.
Jhulan Goswami’s 200th ODI would have proved special if the seasoned bowler had defended eight runs in the last over against Australia at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday. Beth Mooney needed just three balls to score those runs with Tahlia McGrath on the other end, taking Australia to a smashing six-wicket victory the ICC Women’s World Cup league tie.
Probably a yorker or bouncer rather than a length ball as the first delivery from Goswami would have helped take the game closer. It was perhaps too much to expect in a game dominated by Australia and Mooney’s twin fours took the tournament favourites comfortably across the finish line.
Put in to bat, India scored 277 and would have thought it was good enough to apply the brakes on Australia. A massive effort was required from Australia to achieve the highest successful chase in an ODI World Cup. Playing like a champion, skipper Meg Lanning led from the front, scoring a 107-ball 97 to set up Australia’s win.
Australia entered the semi-finals with a fifth win. India will have to win their next two games, against Bangladesh and in-form South Africa, to stay in contention for the knockouts. India are fourth in the points table, level on points with hosts New Zealand (4) after five games but with a better net run rate—0.456 to NZ’s minus 0.216. All eyes will be on Sunday’s game when the hosts take on England, the defending champions who have only two. A win for New Zealand will take them closer to a semi-final spot.
Title front-runners Australia’s chase was set up by openers Alyssa Healy (72 off 65 balls) and in-form Rachael Haynes (43 off 53), who batted beautifully to raise 121 runs together in 19.2 overs. Lanning and Perry’s 103-run third-wicket stand took the team close to the target. They took Australia to 225/2 when rain interrupted in the 41st over. The game paused for 22 minutes, giving India time to re-group. Resuming, they removed Perry for 28.
India bowlers, who were without off-spinner Deepti Sharma, struggled to put pressure on the Australian batters. They were erratic to start with. Goswami, who completed 250 ODI wickets the previous game, failed to take a wicket. Skipper Mithali Raj didn’t have many bowling options as Sharma was dropped to bring in opener Shafali Verma to bolster the batting. Medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar emerged the pick of the bowlers, scalping 2/43.
Put into bat, India were up against it at 28/2 in 6 overs with Verma and fellow opener Smriti Mandhana out. It came down to Yastika Bhatia and Raj.
At No 3, Bhatia batted superbly with the skipper to revive the innings. They put together a partnership of 120, helping India cross 150 in 30 overs. Raj, whose bad form had been a cause of concern for the team, scored 68 runs off 96 balls while Bhatia made 59 off 83 balls. Bhatia fell to medium-pacer Darcie Brown in the 32nd over. Vice-captain Harmanpreet Kaur joined Raj. Displaying all the signs of a batter in confidence, Kaur played clean shots, targetting the shorter boundaries at this multi-purpose ground. Just when a decent partnership was building up, Raj holed out against spinner Alana King.
Kaur remained unbeaten on 57 (47 b, 6x4). Richa Ghosh and Sneh Rana could not do much but Pooja Vastrakar left a mark, scoring a 28-ball 34. Surprisingly, Australia bowlers were wayward, conceding 24 runs through wides.
Speaking after the loss, dejected Raj said, “When you lose you always feel you were 10-15 runs short. Maybe the way Australia started, they were ahead and the fielders did not back the bowlers when it was needed. It was one of those days when the bowling unit didn't do well but they have been doing well for the last four-five games.
“The next two games will be very important and we will look to do well in all departments. We got ourselves in that position, but the next two games are must-win for us.”
