India lost 6 wickets in the next 11 runs against world champions Australia at Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Thursday. It was the third lowest score against Australia at home in Women’s ODI history (74 all out in Auckland, January 1982 and 89 all out in Adelaide, February 2006).
Jemimah Rodrigues, who batted at number five for India, scored 23 runs off 42 balls. No other batsman could reach the 20s.
After Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bat first in Brisbane, India did not seem to cope with the situation as they stumbled through the powerplay. Smriti Mandhana had a century in the final ODI in the series decider at home against New Zealand, but she fell early after falling behind a wide one. It will be the first of five wickets for Megan Schutt, who returns from an impressive five-wicket haul here on Thursday.
Priya Punia (3 off 17 balls), replacing the dropped Shafali Verma, struggled for any rhythm in her comeback game. In an attempt to break his streak, Schutt was caught in a back-to-back point. Harleen Deol scored 19 runs off 34 balls. Skipper Harmanpreet was trapped in front by fast bowler Annabelle Sutherland.
Rodrigues looked comfortable in the middle until he was bowled by Kim Grath as he tried to run a delivery over third. And that was the beginning of the collapse as the top-heavy batting unit showed little resistance in the lower order. At 62 for three, India were bowled out for 100 in 34.2 overs, with the last three batsmen getting out for 100 runs. Shutt completed her first five-wicket haul by casting Priya Mishra.