IND v AUS, 2nd WODI: Richa Ghosh’s fighting 96 in vain as India surrender series to Australia in Wankhede

After handing Australia a thundering defeat in the one-off Test series, India faltered to maintain the tempo in the women’s ODI, surrendering to the Alyssa Healy side.

India lost the WODI series against Australia after losing their second match in a row of the series. Australia held their nerve in a thriller in Mumbai winning the game by 3 runs. After putting up a total of 258/8, Australia turned the game around late in their bowling spell to clinch a series-winning victory.

Playing at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, the Indian team imploded despite being in a good position in the second innings of the game. From 215/3 (44th over) while chasing 259 runs, India finished their innings at 255/8 in 50 overs. India lost their last four wickets for just 25 runs, putting a cap on what turned out to be a really poor outing in the field.

India had started well in the chase scoring briskly but lost the wicket of Yastika Bhatia in the 7th over. Smriti Mandhana (34), Richa Ghosh (96) and Jemimah Rodrigues (44) guided the Indian innings through the middle over and had the run rate under check at 6 RPO.

Richa Ghosh Heroics

Wicketkeeper batter Richa Ghosh put in a tremendous shift in Mumbai on Saturday, 30 December. Ghosh hit a sensational knock of 96 runs while fighting cramps and knee issues and helped India get closer to the target. When wickets were falling around her, Ghosh found ways to score runs, exploiting the angles in the Wankhede field to find the gaps.

Ghosh hit 13 boundaries on the day in a patient knock. Just when it looked like she would get her hundred, a lofted drive to the cover area became her undoing. Richa’s wicket put India in major trouble as the rest struggled for timing against the Australian bowlers on the sluggish track.

Deepti Heroics in 1st Innings
Earlier in the innings, Deepti Sharma turned out to be the hero with the ball once again, picking a five-wicket-haul in the game. In fact, Deepti was the first ever India bowler to pick a fifer against the Australian side in the WODI format.

Deepti finished with impressive figures of 10-0-38-5 breaking the record of Nooshin Al Khadeer. Khadeer’s record of best figures by an Indian bowler in Women’s ODIs against Australia was set back in 2006 when she registered the figures of 10-0-41-4 at St Peters College in Adelaide.

Deepti brought India back in the game after a strong Australian start. Deepti picked up the massive wicket of Ellyse Perry (50) to open her account in the 24th over of the match. Perry was batting on 50 when she played a false shot off the bowler. Thereafter, Deepti trapped Beth Mooney in front of the stumps to grab her second. The spinner got her last three wickets in the last 10 overs of the game dismissing Tahlia McGrath, Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland.

Deepti had spoken in the mid-innings break and said that it was a slow track and she had used the conditions well to pick wickets.

Dropped Catches
India could have kept the Australian score much low if they had picked up at least a couple of their 7 missed catches. The Indian team, as well as the Australian side put up a woeful display in the field which surely would be questioned in the dressing room of both sides.

Annabel Sutherland’s Class
The young all-rounder, who was one of the big buys in the Women’s Premier League Auction in 2024 pitched in with three important wickets for Australia late in the day. Sutherland dismissed Richa Ghosh (44th over), Amanjot Kaur (46th over) and Pooja Vastrakar (48th over) when the match was hanging in balance. Sutherland’s plans and ability to surprise the batter kept Deepti Sharma (24 off 36) in check and pulled Australia forward in the contest.

Sutherland won the player of the match award for her bowling effort.