Indian women’s cricket team ended the 26-match winning streak of their Australian counterpart in style by registering their highest ever run-chase in the third ODI of the ongoing series at Harrup Park in Mackay on Sunday.
Set a target of 265, the Mithali Raj-led team chased down the score in the 50th over by two wickets and with three balls remaining. Opening batter Shafali Verma made an uncharacteristic 56 off 91 balls while three-match-old Yastika Bhatia scored 64 off 69 in the record chase. Some good contributions from Smriti Mandhana (22), Mithali (16), Deepti Sharma (31) and Sneh Rana (30) helped in the team’s winning cause.
It was Jhulan Goswami, who had bowled a waist-height no-ball in the previous match at the dying moment that resulted in India’s loss in a close contest, however, hit the winning four on Sunday to take the team past the target. The Australian bowlers also erred in their lines and doled out 34 runs as extras that included 31 wide.
Earlier, Australia opted to bat and with a team effort, they could make 264 for 9 in their allotted overs. Beth Mooney (52 off 64), Ashleigh Gardner (67 off 62) and Tahila McGrath (47 off 32) were the major contributors for setting a challenging target. For India, Pooja Vastrakar and Goswami took 3 wickets each.
Australia won the ODI series 2-1, and both the teams will now play the only test match of the tour, a pink-ball test, at Queensland from September 30 to October 3. The tour also includes three T20Is that start from October 7.
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