Picture Credit: Twitter
The third ODI between India Women and Australia Women ended in India’s favor as the team successfully chased down 264. Once again, Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana got India a solid start as they stitched 59-run partnership. After Mandhana fell, Yastika Bhatia walked out in place of captain Mithali Raj and it turned out to be a good move. Both the youngsters, Bhatia and Verma, played pretty well and formed a century partnership in the middle.
However, India looked in a bit of trouble when Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh departed in quick succession. Mithali could not hold her longer inside and walked out to bat at no. 5 but what caught the attention of the viewers was Alyssa Healy’s comments from behind the stumps. Healy was heard sledging Raj for her lower strike rate in chases and pointed out that it would benefit the Australians.
"Mithali Raj only strikes at 50 in chases, so the longer she's in, the happier we are,” Healy was heard saying. Mithali, however, departed for 16 off 28 balls.
India win the third ODI by 2 wickets
Even though India had a good start and looked in a commanding position for most of the part, they somehow managed to take the game till the last over. The lower middle-order felt the nerves and lost wickets at regular intervals. Thanks to Sneh Rana and her luck that India managed to break the 26-match winning streak for Australia in ODIs. However, Jhulan Goswami sealed the game for Women in Blue with a boundary.
Before that, Indian bowlers got Australia’s top four within 100 runs. Jhulan Goswami accounted for Rachel Haynes and Meg Lanning earlier in the innings while Pooja Vastrakar got the big wicket of Ellyse Perry. But last match’s star Beth Mooney once again stood in the middle as she scored a half-century. She got good support from Ashleigh Gardner (67) and Tahlia McGrath (47). Australia Women finished with 264-9 to which India replied with 266/8 and won the game. Jhulan Goswami was named as the Player of the Match for her 3 wickets and crucial 8 runs to seal the game for the side.