Australia eclipses India in the first of the three-match ODI series leading up to the Womenβs World Cup. Plenty of areas to work on for the hosts before they meet in Mullanpur for the second time on Wednesday.
Thatβs it from the coverage, as Arijit Kundu takes the leave on behalf of co-commentators Akshay Bhide, Deepak Prakash, and scorer Ghanendra Singh Thakur.
Phoebe Litchfield (Player of the Match): "Yeah got a bit of luck at the start but enjoyed my time with the skipper and Pez [Ellyse Perry]. I think the conditions here are nice for batting. You get some flat pitches in India. Yeah, I think so. You get to play a hockey for that, nice wrist work, and it helps.
I think as a group we were good. Our bowlers bowled very well to keep it down to 280. Great to start the way we did in India."
Player of the Match: Phoebe Litchfield.
Alyssa Healy (Australia Women Captain): "Yeah, proud of the girls. To lose the toss and bowl in the heat, we did well and I was proud of that effort.
It was identified early that it was the case. Taking wickets inside the powerplay in India is important. But if you don't do it, it's about being smart and pull back things.
We want to push the limits when we bat first and it's no different when we are batting second. Phoebe was outstanding. But everyone that came in contributed. We never took the foot off the throat.
(On Perry) She's just old. She's fine (chuckles)"
Harmanpreet Kaur (India Women Captain): "Well, I think we were 20-30 runs short. Our bowlers tried to create opportunities, but we were not able to do so. Overall, it was good cricket. The next game is very important for us. In both innings, the pitch played better, which is why runs were on the board. But I felt we could have added 20-30 runs.
We were unable to take on the opportunities created by our bowlers. We will look to get better. Well, we will try whatever we have on our side. This was our best combination. As I mentioned, their batters batted very well, and we need to accept that."
Biggest wins for Australia in 250+ chases in WODIs (in terms of balls remaining): 37 balls against Sri Lanka Women, Bristol, 2017 (Target 258) 35 balls against India Women, New Chandigarh, 2025 (Target 282) - Tonight* 29 balls against New Zealand Women, Brisbane, 2020 (Target 253) 28 balls against South Africa Women, Wellington, 2022 (Target 272) 21 balls against India Women, Wankhede, 2023 (Target 283)
Highest 3rd Wicket Partnerships for Australia Women vs India Women in ODIs 180 β Alex Blackwell & Meg Lanning, Wankhede, 2012 180 β Alex Blackwell & Ellyse Perry, Canberra, 2016 124* β Meg Lanning & Ellyse Perry, Bristol, 2017 116* β Beth Mooney & Annabel Sutherland, New Chandigarh, 2025, Tonight* 112 β Trish Dawson & Jill Kennare, Chennai, 1984
Highest successful run-chases in WODIs in
India: 285/4 by Australia
vs India, Wankhede Stadium, 2023 (Target 283) 282/2 by Australia vs India, New Chandigarh,
2025 (Target 282) - Tonight* 269/4 by
Australia vs England, Chennai, 2007 (Target 269)
Highest successful run-chases in WODIs: 305/4 by
Sri Lanka vs South Africa, Potchefstroom, 2024 (Target 302) 289/6 by
Australia vs New Zealand, North Sydney, 2012 (Target 289) 285/4 by Australia
vs India, Wankhede Stadium, 2023 (Target 283) 282/2 by Australia vs India, New Chandigarh,
2025 (Target 282) - Tonight* 280/7 by
New Zealand vs India, Queenstown, 2022 (Target 280) 280/4 by
Australia vs India, Auckland, 2022 (Target 278)