Hobart, Feb 27 – Georgia Voll smashed a brilliant 101 to guide Australia to a commanding five-wicket victory over India in the second One Day International (ODI) at the Bellerive Oval on Friday. This win also secured the ODI series for Australia, giving them a 6-4 lead in the multi-format series.
India’s total of 251/9, built on solid half-centuries from Pratika Rawal and Harmanpreet Kaur, appeared insufficient to challenge Australia on a pitch that offered little assistance to bowlers.
Chasing 252, Australia lost captain Alyssa Healy to Kashvee Gautam in the third over. However, this was the only early setback in an otherwise dominant run chase, which was completed with 83 balls to spare. Voll’s 101 came off 83 balls and included 13 fours and a six.
She also shared a crucial 119-run partnership with Phoebe Litchfield (80 off 62 balls, with 11 fours and a six) for the second wicket, which shifted the momentum decisively in Australia’s favor. India struggled to find penetration with their bowling and field placements. While Australia lost a few wickets towards the end, they still managed to win.
Australia had a slightly slow start as Alyssa Healy was dismissed early by Kashvee Gautam, giving her the first international wicket. But after that, Phoebe Litchfield launched a series of boundaries, including three in a row off Kranti Gaud.
Against spinners N. Sree Charani and debutant Vaishnavi Sharma, Phoebe was in excellent form, scoring a half-century off 42 balls and becoming the second youngest Australian batter to reach 2,000 international runs, behind Meg Lanning.
However, her innings ended abruptly when she attempted a lap shot off Kranti Gaud, but was dismissed. Georgia, however, remained determined. After surviving a tricky situation on 19, when Kranti put down a difficult chance, the young right-hander played with remarkable composure, with her leg-side shots and boundaries over extra cover drawing attention.
She reached her half-century off 44 balls before accelerating further, finding gaps and clearing the boundaries with increasing authority, including being dropped on 53 by Smriti Mandhana. Her century came off 80 balls in the 31st over, although in a somewhat tense fashion – an edge off Kashvee that wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh nearly caught, with Georgia managing to get a single to reach the milestone.
Georgia smiled confidently as she removed her helmet to acknowledge the applause, knowing how close it had come to ending differently. Her innings ended one ball later, caught off a mishit off Kashvee for exactly 101 – her second ODI century, and also the second one against India. This made her the third Australian women’s player to record multiple ODI centuries before turning 23, joining Meg Lanning, who achieved this five times, and Phoebe, who has done it three times.
Beth Mooney provided solid support during her partnership with Georgia, before being dismissed via a successful India review for being caught behind for 31. Annabel Sutherland followed shortly after for 10, holing out to Deepti Sharma, who claimed her second wicket of the innings, but by then the match was well beyond India’s reach.
Previously, Harmanpreet Kaur had top-scored with 54 off 70 balls, while Pratika Rawal had made 52 off 81 deliveries. However, the final total was not enough on a pitch that offered little assistance to bowlers. For Australia, Ashleigh Gardner, Alana King, and Annabel Sutherland each claimed two wickets, keeping the scoring rate under control.
The innings followed a familiar pattern for India – Pratika and Smriti Mandhana laid a solid foundation by putting on 78 runs in the first 16 overs before the middle order wobbled. A late flourish of 73 runs off the final 10 overs, driven largely by Harmanpreet’s composed fifty and a blistering cameo from debutant Vaishnavi Sharma, helped India cross the 250-mark.
Electing to bat first, Pratika and Smriti Mandhana were eye-catching with their boundaries in the first five overs. Although the last five overs of the Power-play didn’t result in any boundaries, India ensured that it was the fifth instance in the last seven meetings that Australia failed to take a wicket in the mandatory powerplay.
Smriti Mandhana never looked settled at the crease and was even dropped thrice. But she fell for 31 after she missed an ambitious paddle off Ashleigh Gardner and saw her stumps being shattered, as her 16th fifty-plus stand with Pratika in ODIs came to an end.
After Jemimah Rodrigues edged behind off Annabel Sutherland, Pratika Rawal looked composed to bring up a well-crafted half-century off 76 balls before being run out in a horrible mix-up with Harmanpreet at the striker’s end.
This proved to be a pivotal moment as Australia clawed back – Amanjot Kaur nicked behind off Nicola Carey, Deepti Sharma holed out to deep mid-wicket, and Richa Ghosh was trapped lbw by Alana King, leaving Harmanpreet to carry the innings almost single-handedly. She found good support in bringing India’s innings on track via a 55-run stand with Kashvee Gautam, who made 25 off 34 balls, before being castled by Ashleigh Gardner.
The India captain rose to the occasion to bring up her half-century off 66 balls before falling for 54 off 70 deliveries, caught by cover-point off Megan Schutt with just an over remaining. Vaishnavi Sharma then provided the late impetus India needed by launching a series of two boundaries in the final over to lift the total past 250, which was easily hunted down by Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield.
Brief scores:
India 251/9 in 50 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54, Pratika Rawal 52; Ashleigh Gardner 2-39, Alana King 2-41) lost to Australia 252/5 in 36.1 overs (Georgia Voll 101, Phoebe Litchfield 80; Deepti Sharma 2-32, Kashvee Gautam 2-47) by five wickets.
