Hobart, February 27 – India captain Harmanpreet Kaur acknowledged that her team had failed to capitalize on a favorable batting opportunity, stating that they had aimed to score over 300 runs on a pitch significantly better than the one used in the first ODI, but repeatedly made the same mistakes and lost wickets at crucial moments.
At the Bellerive Oval, Harmanpreet top-scored with 54 off 70 balls, while Pratika Rawal made 52 off 81 deliveries. However, India's total of 251/9 was considered inadequate on a pitch that offered little assistance to bowlers, as Australia completed the chase with 83 balls to spare, thanks to Georgia Voll's outstanding 101.
"Well, we definitely didn't bat well today because as a group, we decided to bat first and aim for a 300-plus total because the pitch was far better than the previous one. But unfortunately, we made the same mistakes again and kept losing wickets, and I think that's why we fell short of runs," Harmanpreet said.
She promised that India would improve their performance in the final ODI, to be played on Sunday, at the same venue. "As I mentioned, whether we bat first or second, we have to bat really well because whenever we bat well, we're always in a good position. I think we didn't bat well in the last two games, and I think that really cost us. So, we need to bat well and bat deep, and hopefully, we will do that in the next game," she added.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy praised the team's performance, highlighting the potential of players like Georgia and Phoebe Litchfield as future stalwarts for the national team. "I'm really pleased with the result. As I said the other night, I was ecstatic with the way we chased, and to do it even better tonight, I thought, was outstanding," Healy said.
She further emphasized that she was impressed with the bowling effort. "I was pretty pleased with that. It was one of those days where we felt they were short of a par score, but at the same time, it was frustrating for us, and I felt like we could have gotten them out a bit earlier. But to keep them to 250 on that kind of wicket was an outstanding effort from our group. We felt pretty well ahead at the halfway mark, we just had to get it done. We will keep focusing on what we can do really well and the little phases of the game that we can win. We're doing those little things at the moment, which is great. And especially heading into next week, those little key moments are something that we speak about a lot. Nothing changes for Sunday, I'd say," she said.
Georgia, who was named Player of the Match for her stunning century, said batting alongside Phoebe made her job easier in the chase. "It was obviously nice to get over the line. I thought Phoebe was outstanding at the other end. She made my job super easy. Just out there having a lot of fun batting with her. And then obviously when Moons came in, she kept the momentum going. It was pleasing to get the win today. We keep things pretty simple, to be honest. She was sort of smashing them down the other end and I took a little while to get myself in. Once I started feeling the ball nice, I could sort of expand my game a little bit, and then similar with her. Obviously, it complements each other quite well and we just love batting together. I love batting anywhere, to be honest. I think any chance you get to bat for Australia, you try and take it with both hands. So, I'm just trying to take any opportunity I can get and do the best job I can," she concluded.