Left-hander Smriti Mandhana’s anchoring century went in vain as India succumbed to an 83-run defeat in the final ODI of the three-match series against Australia here at the Western Australia Cricket Association Ground on Wednesday.
Chasing a tough target of 299 runs, the touring side could amass 215 before being bowled out in the 46th over.
India got off to a shaky start to the chase when opening batsman Richa Ghosh (two) fell victim to Megan Schutt on the first delivery of the fifth over with just 16 runs on the board.
After the initial hiccup, Mandhana teamed up with Harleen Deol and the duo batted cautiously to push their team’s total past the 100-run mark.
Mandhana and Deol formed a 118-run partnership for the second wicket until Alana King gave the home team a much-needed breakthrough by getting rid of the latter.
Deol continued to be a significant run-scorer for India, with a cautious 39 off 64 deliveries, with four boundaries.
Meanwhile, Mandhana was involved in two brief partnerships with captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Jemimah Rodrigues before dying in the 36th over.
She remained India’s top scorer with 105 off 109 deliveries, studded with 14 fours and a six.
His dismissal opened the floodgates as the touring team lost their remaining five wickets for just 26 runs and thus succumbed to a crushing defeat, which saw Australia to a clean 3–0 series victory.
Ashleigh Gardner was Australia’s standout bowler, taking five wickets, while Schutt and King took two wickets each.
Put into bat first, Australia posted a commendable total of 298/6, courtesy of Annabel Sutherland’s spirited century.
The right-handed batsman recovered Australia from 78/4 by knitting two great partnerships with Gardner and captain Tahlia McGrath, who made notable contributions with half-centuries each.
Sutherland top-scored for the home team with 110 off 95 balls, with nine fours and four sixes.
For her brilliant all-round performance, Sutherland was named player of the match and the series.
For India, Arundhati Reddy took four wickets while Deepti Sharma took a scalp.
