Match Center

Right then, that is it from this thrilling game where Australia Women held their nerves well and took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. They will now eye for the whitewash while India Women will play for pride in the last game. The 3rd ODI will be played on 2nd January, Tuesday at 1.30 pm IST (8 am GMT), but as you know, you can always join us early for all the build-up to the match. Until then, cheers and goodbye!

Annabel Sutherland is the PLAYER OF THE MATCH for her all-round brilliance. She starts by saying that it was good fun and it was a team effort in the field. States that it was important to hold the nerves as much as possible. On which wicket was her favourite, she replies that she tries to keep the stumps into play and therefore, the dismissal of Amanjot Kaur was her favourite. She thanks the skipper for showing faith in her at the end. Feels it is about trying to read the game as much as possible and using the experience of domestic competitions. Reckons that the pitch was slower than in the previous game and it was tricky to start on. Credits Alana King for her cameo and also Phoebe Litchfield for getting them to the total.

The victorious Aussie skipper, Alyssa Healy says, it was really a close game at the end. She gave the credit to her girls to find ways to win in very tough situations. She thinks they felt a bit short in score with their batting as they lost a lot of wickets late but they made it up by taking wickets and defending the score. She said they believed they fought till the very last ball and that's why they succeeded in this match. She also noted that they missed a lot of catches but kept their energy on the field, which was great. She ends up saying that there have been lots of changes in the last 12 to 18 months but the players have done well with adapting to the roles.

The captain of India Women, Harmanpreet Kaur says that they bowled really well in this game. Mentions that the plan was to keep thinking about wickets. Shares that there are a lot of positives despite the loss. Adds that she is proud of her team. Reckons that they could have shown a bit more awareness in the middle phase. Credits Richa for her innings and Jemimah for supporting her. Feels that 250 was a good total to chase and if you manage to restrict Australia Women under 300, it is a positive. On the dropped chances, she replies that it is part and parcel of the game and that it is more about how you bounce back.

Presentation Time...

Phoebe Litchfield is up for a chat. She says it was a bit challenging to play on this pitch but they passed 250 runs and were able to give a defendable target to the opposition. She mentions that Ellyse Perry takes a lot of pressure off her. She adds that Ashleigh Gardner was not able to find the spin in the first over but later on she got the ball to spin. She feels pretty good to hold on to the pressure situation. She also praised the way Ashleigh Gardner and Annabel Sutherland held their nerves in the end.

Earlier in the game, Australia Women posted a fighting total on a tricky wicket courtesy of excellent fifties from Phoebe Litchfield, and Ellyse Perry and some decent late contributions from Georgia Wareham and Alana King. Deepti Sharma was the star with the ball for India as she picked up an excellent five-wicket haul while Pooja Vastrakar, Shreyanka Patil, and, Sneh Rana chipped in with one each. While chasing, India Women remained in the game throughout the chase with Richa Ghosh being the top-scorer, but it was the same old story as they just could not take the pressure in the end and failed to get over the line.

Australia Women, on the other hand, will be extremely pleased with their bowling effort as they did not have that many runs to defend in this game. Kim Garth provided them with the first breakthrough where credit must go to Alyssa Healy for taking a fantastic review. An inspired change to bring Alana King after the first drinks break turned out to be the right decision as she removed the dangerous Smriti Mandhana. They struggled to build on that but their spinners were decent in the middle overs with Georgia Wareham picking up two crucial wickets. Phoebe Litchfield will be very relieved as she dropped Richa Ghosh on 0 and she went on to score 96 runs. Annabel Sutherland also let go of an opportunity, but it was she who kept her calm in the death overs along with Ashleigh Gardner who made sure that they sealed the win here.

India Women got off to a steady start but lost Yastika Bhatia inside the first Powerplay while Smriti Mandhana also failed to convert her good start as well. It was then the partnership between Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues that helped the hosts get a grip of the game. Ghosh initially struggled and got lucky a couple of times as well, but did not gave her wicket away and stayed there. They added crucial 88 runs together before Jemimah Rodrigues was dismissed for 44. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur also failed to contribute much in this game but once Richa Ghosh got to her fifty, she started struggling with cramps which made her think clearly as she changed gears and found the fence on regular occasions with good support from Deepti Sharma from the other end. However, the aggressive approach from Ghosh cost her as she fell just 4 runs short of her maiden ODI century, and that also proved to be the turning point in this game. The lower order could not take the pressure and it was too much to ask for Deepti as they fell agonisingly short by just three runs in the end.

AUSTRALIA WOMEN STEAL A WIN HERE AND SEAL THE SERIES! They have once again shown why they are the world champions as they defended this total incredibly well. India Women were in control of this chase for most parts of the game, but a little bit of collapse towards the end proved to be their downfall as the Aussies kept their nerves better and got over the line.

FOUR! A boundary to end things but that will not be enough! Annabel Sutherland goes into the wicket, around off, Shreyanka Patil pulls out the switch hit and does connect as well. She hits it to the right of short third man for a boundary. The Aussies are all smiles as they gather around. Despair on the faces of India Women who came close to the finish line. Australia Women win by 3 runs!

Just a single and that should do it for Australia Women! On a back of a length, over middle, Deepti Sharma backs away and flat bats it back over the bowler's head. She does not get the proper connection and the long on fielder runs around to her right to cut it off.

Full and pace on now, on off, Deepti Sharma hits it straight back to the bowler and Annabel Sutherland makes a good stop in her follow through.

WIDE! Tries to keep it away from the batter but serves it slower and beyond the tramline on off. Deepti Sharma lets it go for a wide.

DROPPED! Tahlia McGrath has dropped a sitter here! Slower and on a length, on off, Shreyanka Patil swings to go down the ground but skies it high in the air towards extra cover where Tahlia McGrath settles under the skier and makes a meal of it as he opts to reverse cup it. The ball pops out of her grasp and the batters cross for a single. Deepti Sharma gets back on strike!

Back of a length, on middle, slower as well, Deepti Sharma swings through the line but too early and toe-ends her shot to square leg for a single.

FOUR! Annabel Sutherland bowls it right up, around off, Deepti Sharma swings through the line and drills it between cover and mid off for a boundary.

Shreyanka Patil comes out to the middle now. Also, Annabel Sutherland to bowl the last over. Can she defend 17 runs here?