3rd ODI: Smriti and Harmanpreet look at positives despite loss to Australia in series decider

New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Captain Harmanpreet Kaur and vice-captain Smriti Mandhana struck a tone of optimism and reflection despite India suffering a 43-run defeat to Australia in the ODI series decider at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. In a run-fest in which multiple records were broken, India were bowled out for 369 in a chase of 413, despite an epic 125 by Smriti, while Harmanpreet and Deepti Sharma hit 52 and 72 respectively.

Smriti, who also scored a century in 50 balls, the fastest hundred by an Indian woman batter in ODIs, said playing an optimistic brand of cricket was the team’s motto before coming out to bat in the second innings.

“The only thing is not to think about anything, just react to the ball. We knew the wicket was good and the outfield was fast, and we'll get value for our shots. You don't have a choice when you're chasing 400, have to play that brand of cricket.”

“It was a good game for women's cricket. Nothing, just focusing on the routines I want to do. Keeping it simple and not overthinking,” said Smriti, who was named Player of the Series for her two centuries and a fifty in the three-game series.

Harmanpreet, meanwhile, acknowledged the disappointment of the result in the series decider but praised her team’s overall performance across the series ahead of the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. “Not liking the fact of being on the losing side. But throughout the series, we played good cricket. Lots of learning for us.”

“The way Deepti and Sneh also batted, even the last game, how Sneh batted, and that shows we have depth in our batting and can play our shots. A lot of positive takeaways and learnings. It was a good series. We gave them a tough series.”

She also discussed a below-par fielding performance and the challenge of finding the ideal team combination for the World Cup. “Fielding is something we're really working hard on. Unfortunately, we're still missing those chances. You're always asking me about our combination.”

“The good thing is we have so many players now, and we can try a lot of combinations. World Cup is a long tournament, and it's about whoever is best for the particular day,” she said.

Australia, led by Beth Mooney’s career-best 138 and a strong top-order showing, posted 412 - their joint-highest total in women’s ODIs. India's response of 369 also made Saturday’s game the highest-ever match aggregate in women’s ODI history, with 748 runs scored overall.

Beth, named Player of the Match, said: “It was a really nice wicket. Volly (Georgia Voll) and Pez (Ellyse Perry) got us off to a really nice start and had a big partnership; they wanted to keep that momentum going. We were just out there batting, building a partnership, picking off the bowlers where we could. As the game went on, the total kept blowing out.”

She also revealed Australia aimed to put 430-450 runs on board. “We were aiming for 430 at one point, then 450, and sort of slowed down at the back end. We would've taken that at the start of the day, to be honest. First and foremost, I just want to contribute to the team. Playing in these conditions and understanding them is really important going into a WC. Hopefully they're not all as flat as that wicket and it doesn't feel like a T20 for 100 overs.”

Australia captain Alyssa Healy praised her team’s adaptability and bounce-back ability on a surface that offered little for bowlers. “That's probably one of the flattest wickets I've played on. A great game of cricket, and we came out with the result that we wanted, which was the main thing. We just spoke about how this is basically a T20. Can we just approach this as a T20, squeeze as much as we can?”

“If we could keep the boundaries out, which was a really difficult thing to do, we might be able to break through the middle order, and we were able to do that. Was a tough wicket and full credit to the girls for hanging in there.”

She signed off by talking about Australia’s World Cup defence. “Most people have got a run in the series, which is fantastic for us heading into a WC. We're well placed, and hope to take momentum into the tournament. You can't defend a WC; you have to go out there and win it. You've got to beat every side in the world to lift that trophy, and that's something that drives this group. India played a fantastic series and will be one to watch out for in the WC, but I'm looking forward to it."

--IANS

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