AUS-W vs IND-W, 2nd ODI: Voll, Litchfield power Australia to big win; secure ODI series

Match Overview

Australia Women and India Women locked horns in the second ODI at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart on Friday, February 27. Indian skipper Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first.

Indian openers - Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal - provided their team a good and stable start. The duo negotiated the new ball and, Mandhana in particular, capitalised on Alyssa Healy and Georgia Voll dropping her on three and 15, respectively, within the first 10 overs. Though the team did not lose any wickets, the run rate was becoming a bit of a concern as the batters needed make a move on. As a matter of fact, India were going around 4.5 runs per over for the most part of the opening stand and when it ended with Gardner knocking Mandhana's stumps the visitors found themselves at 78/1 in the 17th over.

Jemimah Rodrigues could not contribute much as the Mumbai batter fell five overs later. The adage 'one wicket brings two' proved right at this juncture as the set batter Rawal, who had just completed her eighth ODI fifty, was run out five balls later. India began rebuilding, but the phase brought another wicket soon as Deepti Sharma became Alana King's first victim.

India were 103/4 in the 25th over out of nowhere and the team needed their skipper to play an important role now to post a competitive total on the board. Harmanpreet did what was required of her as the 36-year-old formed crucial partnerships with Amanjot Kaur, Richa Ghosh, Kashvee Gautam and Kranti Gaud to take India past the 230-run mark. The right-hander, notably, reached her 24th fifty in the format before succumbing to Megan Schutt in the 49th over. India finished at a decent-looking 251/9 in their 50 overs with Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, and King picking up two wickets each.

Australia were dealt a big blow in the fourth over as skipper Healy was bowled by Gautam. But, India's joy was short-lived as Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll maintained the attacking intent to reach 60/1 at the end of the first powerplay. The right-hander was helped by Deepti Sharma in the 14th over when the Indian all-rounder dropped her at 19. Thereafter, it was a Voll show as the left-right pair put on 119 runs off 94 balls for the second wicket before Litchfield was out bowled by Gaud.

Beth Mooney gave Voll good company as the pair carried forward the innings in the same vein. The game was almost gone from the Indians' grasp by the 20th over itself as the Aussies were 140/2 and attacked relentlessly. Importantly, the right-hander completed her second ton off just 80 balls, but fell soon after to Gautam. The home team was just 31 runs away when Voll was dismissed and the batters to come next completed the run chase with ease nevertheless.

Australia won by five wickets and 13.5 overs remaining and secured the ODI series by taking an unassailable 2-0 lead. When it comes to the points table they lead the visitors 6-4 after this match.

Top run-scorer of the match

Top wicket-taker of the match

Player of the Match

Georgia Voll

Voll came in to bat at number three and looked positive right from the start. Litchfield and her complemented each other and formed a hassle-free partnership to take the game away from India quickly. Although the right-hand batter is just nine matches old in the 50-over format, she has performed well scoring two hundreds and a fifty now. Notably, the  22-year-old's other century also came against India in 2024 and it was a score of 101, too.

Turning Point

India losing three quick wickets in the 21-25 over period for just five runs really dented their chances of scoring big. Rodrigues, Rawal, and Deepti were the three victims whose presence was much-needed to post, perhaps, a 300+ total but that did not transpire as the Aussies gained a huge advantage in the first innings itself. The target of 252 on this pitch was going to be very difficult to defend and that is what happened.

What the captains said

Winning Team Captain, Alyssa Healy (AUS-W)

"I’m really pumped with that result. Like I said the other night, I was ecstatic with the way that we went about that chase. And to do it again tonight even better, I thought, was outstanding. Pretty pleased with that. It was one of those weird ones where I felt like they were well short of a par score, but at the same time it was frustrating for us, and I felt like we could have got them out a little bit earlier. But to keep them to 250 on that sort of wicket was just an outstanding effort from our group."

"We felt pretty well ahead at the halfway mark, we just had to get it done. Sometimes I’ve just got to get out of the way and let the young kids do their thing. That’s the future, right? That’s the future of this Australian cricket team moving forward in that top order. So to see them go about their business tonight, especially Phoebe, the way she took it on early and got herself set and gave us a real opportunity, was outstanding. Kudos to them both."

Losing Team Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur (IND-W)

"Well, definitely we didn’t bat well today because as a group we decided that let’s bat first and put a 300-plus total on the board because today’s pitch was far better than the previous one. But unfortunately, we again made the same mistakes and we kept losing wickets in between, and I think that’s why we were short of lots of runs. Even though we didn’t play good cricket, still there are so, so many positives. Girls are coming up and showing some good cricket. So I think it’s only about being there and keeping doing the right things again and again. And I think that’s what you have to do when you’re playing international cricket."

"As I mentioned, no matter whether we bat first or second, we have to bat really well because whenever we bat well, we’re always in a good situation. I think in the last two games we didn’t bat well, and I think that really cost us. So I think it’s only about batting well and batting deep, and hopefully in the next game we’ll do that."