Jemimah Rodrigues' 82 and Pooja Vastrakar's unbeaten 62 helped the Indian women's team post a 283-run target for Australia here at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Opting to bat first, India got off to a poor start losing opener Shafali Verma for 1 in the third over by Darcie Brown as the hosts lost their first wicket for 12. Yastika Bhatia and Richa Ghosh scored runs at a brisk pace but the latter was dismissed for 21 by Annabel Sutherland as India lost their second wicket for 41. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur walked out to bat with Bhatia and they helped the Indian women's team reach the 50-run mark in 10.1 overs. Ashleigh Gardner dismissed Harmanpreet for 9 to leave India tottering at 57/3 in 12.4 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues walked out to bat with Yastika and the latter continued to bat in full flow. Unfortunately, she was dismissed for 49 by Georgia Wareham missing her half-century by a whisker to leave India in a spot of bother at 95/4 in 19.5 overs. Deepti Sharma walked out to bat and alongwith Rodrigues helped India cross the triple-figure mark in 21.1 overs. The moment they looked like resurrecting India's innings Alana King dismissed Deepti for 21 as half of the Indian side was back in the pavilion with only 134 runs on the board. Amanjot Kaur then joined Rodrigues and the pair helped India cross the 150-run mark in 29.2 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues struck a half-century in 54 balls hitting three boundaries. Wareham struck for the second time dismissing Amanjot for 20 with India's score reading 179/6 in 36.1 overs. In the next over Australia dealt India with another blow as Megan Schutt dismissed Sneh Rana for 1 to leave India in deep trouble at 182/7 in 37.4 overs. Pooja Vastrakar walked out to bat with Rodrigues and helped India cross the 200-run mark in 40 overs. Rodrigues-Vastrakar scored runs at a brisk pace to form a 50-run partnership in 42 balls to take India to a fighting total. India women's team reached the 250-run mark in 46.3 overs and Vastrakar also went on to score her half-century in just 39 balls. Rodrigues was dismissed by Ashleigh Gardner for 82 from 77 hitting seven boundaries. Vastrakar remained unbeaten on 62 from 46 balls hitting seven fours and two sixes to guide hosts to 282/8 in 50 overs. Brief scores: India 282/8 in 50 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 82, Pooja Vastrakar 62*; Georgia Wareham 2/55). (ANI)
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