IND-W vs AUS-W, 1st ODI: Australia sails to eight-wicket win against India to take series lead

Its last One-Day International was in January, but such things do not seem to matter for the Australian women’s team.

Australia chased down India’s 281 for seven with eight wickets and 5.5 overs to spare at the PCA Stadium on Sunday to go up 1-0 in the three-match ODI series. The win also lays down a marker ahead of the upcoming World Cup.

Australia’s eighth ODI win in a row against India was set up by opener Phoebe Litchfield (88, 80b, 14×4) — who made India rue the couple of chances she gave including one when she was on nought — Beth Mooney (77 not out, 74b, 9×4), and Annabel Sutherland (54 not out, 51b, 6×4). Ellyse Perry had to retire, though, because of a cramp after adding 84 for the second wicket with Litchfield.

AS IT HAPPENED | India-W vs Australia-W Highlights

Earlier, the host’s top three batter got going, but got out when they shouldn’t have. The Indian women must have been hoping to score more than 300 — something they never could against the Aussies. Pratika Rawal (64, 96b, 6×4) and Smriti Mandhana (58, 63b, 6×4, 2×6) put on 114, their fifth century stand in just 15 innings; no Indian opening pair has more three-figure stands.

But they wouldn’t want to remember how their partnership ended; Smriti was run out by a direct hit from Litchfield at extra cover after Pratika didn’t travel much from the non-striking end. The left-handed stylist had been looking good, with her fluent drives and a couple of sweetly struck sixes.

Harleen Deol (54, 57b, 4×4, 2×6) accelerated at the right time after Pratika failed to connect her slog-sweep properly against Alana King.

Then Harleen stepped out against Megan Schutt only to be stumped by Alyssa Healy, who was standing up to the seamer. Cameos from Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and Radha Yadav made the Indian total respectable. Not enough to win, it would turn out.

Published on Sep 14, 2025