Hobart, February 26 After losing the series opener, the reigning world champions, India, will aim for a better batting performance in the second women's ODI against Australia on Friday to keep the three-match series alive here.
Having won the T20 series 2-1, India started the ODI contests on a disappointing note, losing by six wickets in Brisbane. The Indian women's team has never won a bilateral ODI series against Australia.
Australia has dominated the rivalry against India in this format, having won all 11 of the bilateral ODI series between the two sides, including a 3-0 win in late 2024 and a 2-1 victory in September 2025.
However, India will look to draw inspiration from their five-wicket win over Australia in the 2025 Women's ODI World Cup semi-final.
In the opener here, India struggled and were bowled out for a meager 214.
Apart from vice-captain Smriti Mandhana (58), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (53), and Kashvee Gautam (43), no other Indian batter could produce substantial knocks and struggled against Australia's disciplined bowling.
Opening the batting, Pratika Rawal made a duck, while Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, and Deepti Sharma also failed to perform. India will be banking on this quartet to perform well on Friday.
Big-hitting wicket-keeper Richa Ghosh, who scored 23, also struggled, and the team hopes she will provide the much-needed impetus towards the end.
On the bowling front, left-arm spinner Shree Charani was the star with figures of 2/41 from her nine overs, but she will look for support from players like Deepti Sharma (1/49) and Kashvee in the middle overs.
However, the onus will be on right-arm fast medium pacers Renuka Singh and Kranti Gaud to inflict early damage, which they failed to do in the series opener.
Trailing in the series, the Indian team management might also be tempted to bring in all-rounders Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana.
Senior India all-rounder Deepti hopes to make a strong comeback in the second ODI to draw parity in the series.
"As a team, we played well, but the result didn't go our way. We will come back stronger in the next game," she said on the eve of the match.
"We will keep it simple, we are not overthinking. We are focusing on our strengths."
On the other hand, Australia will be confident of providing a perfect farewell to their captain, Alyssa Healy, who scored a fine 50 in the last match, by sealing the series on Friday.
Healy and Phoebe Litchfield have been consistent at the top, stitching a half-century stand, and they will like to continue in the same vein.
The chase was easy for Australia, with Beth Mooney (76) and Annabel Sutherland (48 not out) finishing with an 85-run stand for the fourth wicket.
Australia's bowling has also been spot on, with Megan Schutt, Ashleigh Gardner, Alana King, Tahila McGrath, and Sophie Molineux all being economical and among the wickets.
The trophy for the multi-format series, which includes a single pink ball Test in Perth, will be decided on points, with two points for each T20 and 50-over victory, and four for a Test triumph.
Teams:
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Renuka Thakur, Shree Charani, Vaishnavi Sharma, Kranti Gaud, Sneh Rana, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Uma Chetry (wk), Amanjot Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Kashvee Gautam, Harleen Deol, Pratika Rawal.
Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Sophie Molineux (vc), Darcie Brown, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham.
Match starts at 9:20 am.
