From 89/4, India lost 6 wickets for 11 runs in a stunning collapse against the world champions at Allan Border Field. (BCCI)
The Indian batting unit combined to hit a grand total of eight fours during their entire innings in the first women’s ODI against Australia in Brisbane on Thursday.
During the chase, opener Phoebe Litchfield alone hit eight fours, six of them off consecutive deliveries she faced between the sixth and seventh overs, in her innings of 35 off 29 balls as the hosts cantered to the target of 101 in only 16.2 overs for a five-wicket win.
From 89/4, India lost 6 wickets for 11 runs in a stunning collapse against the world champions at Allan Border Field in the first of a three-match series. Chasing the modest target, Australia did lose five wickets but for a batting line-up with depth, it was only a minor blip. Jemimah Rodrigues top-scored for India with 23 off 42 balls. No other batter reached 20.
For the second time in four ODIs, India produced a woeful batting display. Against New Zealand in Ahmedabad a few months ago, India were 108/8 at one stage before a late order resistance pushed their total to some respectability. There was no such rally in Brisbane.
India continues to be overdependent on Smriti Mandhana and Harmanpreet Kaur (and to a lesser extent Jemimah). The team’s top three ODI totals in 2024 have all come when Smriti has scored a century – the highest coming when both Smriti and Harmanpreet hit triple figures). Smriti has scored 28.5 percent of India’s ODI runs this year, while the captain and vice-captain have combined for 43.6 percent. It’s understandable that the two best batters of a team account for the bulk of the runs, but the way India struggle when one or both of them fail to click is a massive concern.
Australia were supposed to be the rustier of the two sides going into the game, having not played an ODI since March, but India looked woefully out of depth after opting to bat. Smriti scored her most recent ODI century against New Zealand by forcing herself to leave balls that she wouldn’t normally leave in the first 10 overs, but she ended up throwing her bat outside the off-stump early, edging a short and wide one.
Her dismissal put India into reverse gear. Shafali Verma has been dropped from the ODIs due to her slump but in Priyan Punia and Harleen Deol, India had two batters making a comeback of sorts to this format and they struggled to put bat to ball. On quite a few occasions, Australia’s new-ball duo of Megan Schutt and Kim Garth beat the outside edge of the right-handers by a significant margin.
The chain of dot balls in the first 10 overs resulted in the wickets of Priya and Harleen either side of the end of the Powerplay, trying to break the shackles they had put themselves in. Boundaries were hard to come by once Smriti got out. India’s running between the wickets too was a mess. Harmanpreet was LBW with her front foot planted on the middle-leg line. Jemimah and Richa Ghosh couldn’t convert a decent start into a sizable total, not for the first time.
Most worryingly, none of these are new issues. Losing against Australia in their backyard is not the end of the world, but India’s batting problems seem to be opponent-agnostic at the moment.
Brief scores: India 100 all out in 34.2 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 23; Megan Schutt 5/19) lost to Australia 102/5 in 16.2 overs (Georgia Voll 46 not out; Renuka Thakur 3/45) by 5 wickets.
I’m Manas Ranjan Sahoo: Founder of “Webtirety Software”. I’m a Full-time Software Professional and an aspiring entrepreneur, dedicated to growing this platform as large as possible. I love to Write Blogs on Software, Mobile applications, Web Technology, eCommerce, SEO, and about My experience with Life.
