A test of character awaits Harmanpreet Kaur’s India Women in a must-win match in the second ODI against Australia on Saturday.
India were outplayed in the first ODI on Thursday at the Wankhede Stadium despite the hosts notching up their highest-ever total against Australia — 282/8 — riding the brilliance of Jemimah Rodrigues (82) and Pooja Vastrakar (62 not out).
When it came to defending the total, India used seven different bowlers, including Harmanpreet (3-0-32-0), but to no avail, as Australia romped home with more than three overs and six wickets to spare.
India’s crushing defeat was not only their eighth consecutive at home but the manner in which the hosts went down would create some concerns in the dressing room.
After Sneh Rana flew to her left to take a diving catch to get rid of Alyssa Healy in the first over off Renuka Singh, India’s fielding dropped. Plenty of errors in the field assisted the Australian pair of Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry as they piled up a 148-run stand for the second wicket.
India’s new ball bowlers, particularly Vastrakar, could not impose themselves allowing some easy runs.
As was the case on her T20I debut, Saika Ishaque (6-0-48-0) faced trouble settling down and plenty of mistakes in the field only added to the team’s woes.
Before Rodrigues and Vastrakar rescued India with their 68-run stand for the eighth wicket, India were struggling with the bat too with most of the batters not able to convert their starts as well.
The ask will be tough for India to put this loss behind and recover quickly in a day’s time, their seventh match across formats in the last 23 days in this packed home season.
It also remains to be seen if vice-captain Smriti Mandhana, who missed the first ODI for being unwell, would be available for the second match.
The biggest challenge, however, would be to find ways to stop this daunting Australian batting line-up.
