India vs Australia: Dropped catches, miscalculated run-chase cost hosts dearly as Alyssa Healy and Co clinch series 2-0

To paraphrase an iconic line from The Dark Knight, you either finish the match a hero with a five-for or bat long enough without success to become somewhat of a villain.

In an ideal world, Deepti Sharma should have been celebrated for being the first-ever Indian bowler to take a five-wicket haul in women’s ODIs against Australia. In the end, though, her batting struggles in the run-chase proved critical as India lost the second ODI against Australia by 3 runs in Mumbai on Saturday.

Alyssa Healy and Co clinched the series 2-0 and kept up their record of never losing a bilateral 50-over assignment against India. There is no shame in losing against this champion Australian side but India paid the price for as many as seven dropped catches while fielding that allowed Australia to score 258 despite a solid performance by the bowlers. Then a misfiring chase in the back-end, where Richa Ghosh’s fighting 96 went in vain, saw India slip to an avoidable defeat.

The match went down to the very last over but it’s Australia who win by 3 runs at the end. #TeamIndia will aim to bounce back in the 3rd & Final ODI.

Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/yDjyu27FoW#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/6j0EHRUlsw

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2023

Run-chase slips away

When Deepti came out to bat at the fall of Harmanpreet Kaur’s wicket, India were 171/4 and needed 88 runs from 86 balls. The pitch wasn’t easy to bat all day of course, and Richa was fighting through cramps and exhaustion to keep India alive. But that was a winnable situation with the batting depth India had. Instead, the momentum started to slip away from the hosts thereon.

Deepti is good at many things, but batting in the middle order in a run-a-ball chase has never been her strong suit. The team management rates her highly as a white-ball allrounder but she is more of an accumulator than a ball striker and India needed someone to complement Richa in the middle to keep the required run-rate under check.

Deepti’s slow start followed by Richa’s dismissal four short of a well-deserved century meant India’s lower order was left with too much heavy lifting on a pitch that always had help for the bowlers.

Annabel Sutherland’s cutters and accurate lines in the end saw her pick up three wickets in the space of three overs, including that of Ghosh. Ash Gardner’s sensational 49th over went for just 3 runs and despite a couple of fours in the last over, India fell short of the finish line.

Determination. Grit. Belief 🫡@13richaghosh came out all guns blazing & nearly powered #TeamIndia to victory with a stunning 96 👏👏#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Sit back and relive Richa Ghosh’s resilient knock 🎥🔽https://t.co/MmwB7m0buz

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2023

While Australia too dropped some sitters, their ground-fielding was also a differential in the final equation, as Phoebe Litchfield produced a series of good saves and one stunning catch at cover to dismiss Jemimah Rodrigues when India looked to be in control.

Deepti’s five-for

After losing the toss, Harmanpreet Kaur said she’d have liked to bowl anyway to try and put the Aussie batters under pressure early on. But the catching woes began in the first over, and lasted till the 49th. Litchfield received three reprieves as she went on to score a valuable 63 and Alana King, batting at No 9, was dropped twice and went on to hit three sixes in a match-changing 17-ball 28.

In between all that, Deepti did what she does best with the ball as she slowed the pace up brilliantly on a turner to trouble the strong Aussie batting lineup. Her dismissal of Ellyse Perry, off a short ball fortunately enough, was the first sign of Indian spinners potentially having a field day.

When many a delivery turned sharp, Deepti got the wicket of Beth Mooney with one that held its line. Then came the ball of the day as she cut the in-form Tahlia McGrath in half with a delivery that turned back sharply from outside off to hit the stumps.

Deepti Sharma 🤝 Bowling Brilliance 😎#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @Deepti_Sharma06 | @IDFCFIRSTBank

Relive her impressive five-wicket haul here 🎥🔽https://t.co/ph2uPseexE

— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2023

In her final over, Deepti dismissed Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland to finish with brilliant figures of 5/38. Shreyanka Patil on ODI debut played a solid supporting role to Deepti, picking up the well-set Litchfield and finishing with figures of 1/43.

The late flourish from Australia saw them head into the second half with momentum but for the most part, India were tracking well in the run-chase thanks to Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues. But their old enemy that is the middle-order batting came back to haunt them.

Harmanpreet said after the match, “The bowlers did really well, I am proud of the team. We needed a bit more awareness late in the chase. Richa played really well, Jemimah helped her in the middle. We knew we could’ve chased it but didn’t show enough awareness in the middle overs.”

That ability to assess conditions and transfer pressure to the opponents is something Australia have mastered, and once again they showed how they can find different solutions to recover seemingly lost causes even when they don’t have their best day.

As Healy summed it up in the end, “Something about Australian sporting teams, we hang in there. We still believed we can win till the last ball and that’s what made us successful.”

Something about Australia, indeed.

Brief scores: Australia 258/8 (Litchfield 63, Perry 50; Deepti 5/38) bt India 255/8 (Ghosh 96; Sutherland 3/47, Wareham 2/39) by three runs

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