The second match between Australia Women and India Women, which took place at the Harrup Park, Mackay, will definitely remain one of the greatest ODIs in Women’s cricket.
Chasing a stiff 275, Australia needed 13 off the last over, and three off the final ball. Their winning streak was halted for a while when Nicola Carey was caught at square leg. The Indians started celebrating on and off the field until the third umpire Phillip Gillespie called a no-ball for height. The equation went down to two off the final ball. Carey and Beth Mooney then completed two runs to keep Australia's winning streak alive. It has now extended to 26.
It was an incredible innings by Mooney, who came to open the batting and remained till the end. Her 133-ball 125 was laced with twelve fours. She was ably assisted by Tahlia McGrath (74) and Carey (39*).
Australia had not got off to the best of starts. Jhulan Goswami cleaned up Alyssa Healy with a peach in the opening over. Meg Lanning, Ellyse Perry, and Ashleigh Gardner did not last long either, and Australia were left reeling on 52/4 before Mooney and McGrath held the fort, and took the game away.
Earlier, Smriti Mandhana starred with bat (86 in 94 balls) to take India to 274/7 after Lanning won the toss and asked them to bat. It was an improved batting show overall after the series opener, where they struggled to reach 225/8. Richa Ghosh, who did not impress with the big gloves later in the evening, made a handy 50-ball 44 before she was undone by McGrath (3-45).
Deepti Sharma (23), Pooja Vastrakar (29*) and Goswami (28*) all chipped in with useful contributions to steer India to a challenging total, which was still not enough.
India will look for a consolation win on 26 September, in the third ODI at the same venue.
Brief Scores: India Women 274/7 in 50 overs (Smriti Mandhana 86; Tahlia McGrath 3-45) lost to Australia Women 275/5 in 50 overs (Beth Mooney 125*; Meghna Singh 1-38) by 5 wickets. Player of the Match: Beth Mooney.