Key events
3rd over: Australia 18-0 (Healy 9, Litchfield 8)
Renuka continues her spell and gets her first shot at Litchfield. The first ball is ruled wide, so not the ball she would have been hoping for. She adjusts her line well next ball and Litchfield can’t do anything but defend. She continues to target the stumps and bowl very full and you can feel Litchfield starting to get frustrated. Unfortunately for Renuka, she slightly misses her length and it lets Litchfield get all that frustration out with a six on the second last ball of the over.
2nd over: Australia 11-0 (Healy 9, Litchfield 2)
Kashvee opens the bowling from the other end – she was certainly the pick of the bowlers for India on Friday. However, Litchfield is keen to get going and finds a gap in the infield immediately, driving it through cover for a single. And that has inspired Healy into action as well, she cuts it well for four – the first boundary of the match. Litchfield chases after a wide delivery and cuts it into the deep late in the over – she picks up a single, but it might provide India some hope that they can lure her into more risky shots and pick up a boundary. Healy finishes the over with another four.
1st over: Australia 0-0 (Healy 0, Litchfield 0)
Renuka takes the new ball for India, with Healy on strike in her final ODI. There’s quite a bit of wind around and it assists the ball moving in towards Healy and she starts defensively. She strikes it more aggressively next ball, but with the same result, just a dot. It’s a good start for Renuka. We have a pause midway through the over because a bail has blown off – probably a good indication of how windy it is in Hobart! It’s a maiden for Renuka – a very good start for India.
The teams are on the field and we’re ready to go. The Indian team gave Healy a guard of honour as she entered the field – a nice touch.
Remember you can send me an email during today’s game if you have any thoughts to share! Today I’m interested to hear your opinions on the upcoming Test – who do you think both teams will select for that all important match? Drop me a line and let me know – the link is at the top of the page.
Cricket Australia have provided an update on Kim Garth:
Kim continues to make positive progress in her rehabilitation from a quadriceps injury and is tracking well in her recovery. However, with preparation timelines for the upcoming Test match now tight, she has not yet resumed bowling. She has returned home and will rejoin the squad in Perth as she continues her rehabilitation.
A full Test squad update will be provided following tonight‘s final ODI.
It has also been confirmed that Megan Schutt’s exclusion from the team today is due to illness.
So a few changes to both teams compared to game two. The notable one for Australia is Lucy Hamilton making her international debut. She was presented ODI cap 151 by Alyssa Healy before the match. Georgia Wareham also comes into the eleven for this match, with Megan Schutt and Darcie Brown making way for the two new inclusions.
India have opted to make three changes from the team that last took the field in Hobart. They have brought in Harleen Deol, Sneh Rana and Renuka Singh, with Amanjot Kaur, Vaishnavi Sharma and Kranti Gaud dropping out of the eleven for this final ODI.
India XI
1. Smriti Mandhana
2. Pratika Rawal
3. Harleen Deol
4. Harmanpreet Kaur
5. Jemimah Rodrigues
6. Richa Ghosh
7. Deepti Sharma
8. Kashvee Gautam
9. Sree Charani
10. Sneh Rana
11. Renuka Singh
Australia XI
1. Alyssa Healy
2. Phoebe Litchfield
3. Georgia Voll
4. Beth Mooney
5. Annabel Sutherland
6. Ash Gardner
7. Tahlia McGrath
8. Georgia Wareham
9. Nicola Carey
10. Alana King
11. Lucy Hamilton
India won the toss and elected to bowl
As predicted, Harmanpreet won the toss and decided to flip things around and bowl. She says the pitch looks drier today and she thinks their spinners will do a great job on it.
Preamble
Megan Maurice
Hello and welcome to the third ODI between Australia and India. Australia have already clinched the ODI leg of the series with wins in the first two games, but the whole multi-format series is still very much up for grabs after India won the T20 leg. With only the Test remaining, can India draw the series level? Or will Australia’s ODI dominance in this series continue?
It was interesting to note that both previous ODI tosses were won by Harmanpreet Kaur for India and both times she elected to bat. If she continues her great run of winning the toss, I’d expect her to bowl first this time and try to restrict Australia to a relatively low total and go for the chase.
The Australian camp has been plagued with injuries, with Kim Garth, Ellyse Perry and Sophie Molineux all unavailable for selection. However, the depth of the squad has been on show for them, with everyone who has been selected in this ODI series so far able to shine under pressure.
The toss is immeinent and we will find out soon who both teams have selected in their eleven for today, so let’s get into it.