India vs Australia: Series slips away from hosts as Alyssa Healy and Co seal victory 2-0 with dropped catches and miscalculated run-chase | Cricket Highlights

To rephrase an iconic quote from The Dark Knight, you either die a hero with a five-for or live long enough without success to become somewhat of a villain. In a perfect world, Deepti Sharma would have been lauded for being the first-ever Indian bowler to achieve a five-wicket haul in women’s ODIs against Australia. Unfortunately, her struggles at bat during the run-chase proved to be critical as India lost the second ODI against Australia by 3 runs in Mumbai on Saturday. Alyssa Healy and Co secured the series 2-0, maintaining their record of never losing a bilateral 50-over assignment against India. While there is no shame in losing against this accomplished Australian side, India bore the brunt of dropping seven catches during fielding, which allowed Australia to score 258 despite an impressive performance by the bowlers. Subsequently, India’s falter in the run-chase, coupled with Richa Ghosh’s valiant 96, led to an avoidable defeat. The game came down to the final over, with Australia emerging victorious by 3 runs in the end. #TeamIndia is eager to make a comeback in the 3rd & Final ODI. Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/yDjyu27FoW#INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/6j0EHRUlsw – BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 30, 2023. When Deepti entered the game to bat after Harmanpreet Kaur’s dismissal, India stood at 171/4 and needed 88 runs from 86 balls. Although the pitch was challenging for batting, Richa made considerable efforts, battling cramps and exhaustion, to maintain India’s momentum. Nevertheless, India’s momentum began to slip, which was compounded by Deepti’s ineffectiveness in the middle order during a run-a-ball chase. While Deepti has various strengths, batting under such circumstances has never been one of them. Her slow start followed by Richa’s dismissal made it challenging for India’s lower order on a pitch that favored the bowlers. Despite Australia’s dropped catches, their ground-fielding was instrumental in their victory. Notably, Phoebe Litchfield’s remarkable fielding and catch at cover made a difference for Australia. After losing the toss, Harmanpreet Kaur expressed her desire to bowl to put pressure on the Aussie batters early on. However, the team grappled with catching mistakes from the first over until the 49th. Deepti made the most of the turner pitch to trouble Australia’s strong batting line-up, securing a five-wicket haul. Although India was on track for most of the run-chase, their middle-order batting issues resurfaced, causing their defeat. Following the match, Harmanpreet highlighted the team’s need for more awareness late in the chase, praising Richa’s performance. The ability to assess conditions and transfer pressure to their opponents is a skill that Australia has mastered. As Heather Priest summed it up, “Something about Australian sporting teams, we hang in there. We still believed we can win till the last ball and that’s what made us successful.” Australia: 258/8 (Litchfield 63, Perry 50; Deepti 5/38) India: 255/8 (Ghosh 96; Sutherland 3/47, Wareham 2/39) – Australia won by three runs. !function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s) {if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)}; if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;n.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version=’2.0′; n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0; t.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window, document,’script’, ‘https://telusuko.com/wp-content/litespeed/localres/aHR0cHM6Ly9jb25uZWN0LmZhY2Vib29rLm5ldC9lbl9VUy9mYmV2ZW50cy5qcw==’); fbq(‘init’, ‘444470064056909’); fbq(‘track’, ‘PageView’);