Australian women’s cricket team fans would be booming with confidence. Skipper Alyssa Healy had no hesitation in opting to bat first at Delhi, as this is the decider of the series. Georgia Voll & Alyssa Healy displayed a magnificent exhibition of stroke-play in power-play overs. Australia at the halfway stage was 178-2 in 25 overs and was looking ominous. India’s squad was unchanged after their dominant win in 2nd over against Australia.
Georgia Voll takes Australia off to a flyer in power play overs
Alyssa Healy was in beast mode from the word go. The Australian skipper smashed a quickfire 30 runs in 18 balls and hit 7 fours. Georgia Voll & Ellyse Perry continued to dismantle India’s bowling unit. Georgia Voll & Ellyse Perry made sure that they smashed an odd boundary in every another over, which created immense pressure on Indian bowlers.
In the 9th over, Sneh Rana was taken to the cleaners by smashing back-to-back boundaries and withina blink of an eye, Aussies were in complete control of the 1st innings. Australia women managed to put on 77 runs for the loss of 1 wicket in the powerplay overs & were quite ruthless.
Georgia Voll & Ellyse Perry Hammer India
It looked as if the two batters were toying with the bowling unit. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur’s tactical combinations & field placements didn’t yield the result. The Aussie batters rotated the strike smartly. India’s bowlers weren’t able to contain the batters by bowling a string of dot balls, as singles & boundaries were coming regularly.
The way in the 3rd ODI in which the Aussie batting unit turned on, it was quite contrasting as compared to the 2nd ODI match. Perhaps that’s the specialty of the Australian cricket team, who have the knack of delivering a knockout punch. At the end of drinks break, 14 over, Australia’s score was 105-1 with Georgia Voll’s score bring 53 runs in 46 balls.
Georgia Voll misses out on a century; Australia in a strong position
The runs were coming off quite easily. The spinners weren’t able to extract the turn from the surface, given that Australian batters used their crease and footwork quite incredibly well. At the end of 20 overs, Australia’s score was 147-1 and the side was looking all set to notch a score in excess of 300+, given Australia has a long quality batting line-up.
In the 22nd over, Sneh Rana got rid of the big fish ‘Georgia Voll’ as her sweep shot wasn’t that effective. India got the much-needed breakthrough. Georgia Voll’s score was 81 runs in 68 balls & had hit 14 fours. At the time of Georgia Voll’s dismissal, Australia’s score was 150-2 in 21.1 overs. Australia, at the halfway stage, was placed in a very sturdy position at 178-2.
What lies ahead for India & Australia
India can’t afford to form another 100-odd runs partnership, as chasing in excess of 300 would be an arduous task. It won’t be wrong to say that India needs wickets in quick succession to make a solid comeback in the match. Harmanpreet Kaur will have to make sure that India don’t end up chasing 330+ runs as under the lights, the ball will swing & spin enormously.
Australia, on the other hand, would be pumped up after a near-perfect first 25 overs. Ellyse Perry has got a golden opportunity to smash a magnificent ton in excess of 130+ and assert her dominance. If Australia is restricted/bowled below 300 runs, then only India can stage a miraculous comeback in this ODI series which looks unlikely to happen.
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