Key events
9th over: Australia 49-1 (Voll 8, Litchfield 34)
Voll gets into position as Kashvee releases the ball and scoops the first ball of the over past fine leg for four, putting pressure back on to the bowler immediately. It’s a good fight back from Kashvee though, tightening up her line to ensure Voll can’t do anything but the defend the next few balls. In fact, she avoids giving away any further runs from the over.
8th over: Australia 45-1 (Voll 4, Litchfield 34)
Vaishanvi comes into the attack on debut and starts with two dots to Litchfield, which will give her some confidence. However, no one can keep Litchfield quiet for long and she pulls out the reverse sweep, which sails down to the boundary for four.
7th over: Australia 39-1 (Voll 3, Litchfield 29)
Voll gets some strike now after the Litchfield show last over. Unfortunately for her, it’s against Kashvee, who’s looking the more dangerous of the Indian opening bowlers at the moment. She finds a single through a flick to deep backward square early in the over to keep things moving and Litchfield is also content with a single to this very good line and length. Just the two runs from another tight Kashvee over.
6th over: Australia 37-1 (Voll 2, Litchfield 28)
A very full ball from Kranti to start the over, generally you’d say a delivery like that was too full, but it catches Litchfield off guard and nearly gets through her, but she defends it back to the bowler. Midway through the over, she finds the ball she’s looking for and pulls it strongly to the boundary for four, before following it up with another in almost the same spot. That’s followed by yet another pull shot for four – Kranti needs to adjust her length and she does so, finishing the over with a dot.
5th over: Australia 25-1 (Voll 2, Litchfield 16)
Australia is sitting right on the required run rate at the moment and there is a sense from India that they need to start taking wickets soon, so they do that nice and early in the over, dismissing Healy for single figures, bringing Voll to the crease. Like the openers beforehand, she starts with a strong, Test-match style defensive shot and then dashes through for a quick single to make sure she doesn’t come away with another duck. They continue rotating the strike throughout the over to keep the run rate moving along after the loss of that early wicket.
WICKET! Healy b Kashvee 6 (Australia 20-1)
A perfect yorker from Kashvee catches Healy’s back foot and deflects on to the stumps. A disappointing way to go for the captain, but a great ball from Kashvee – her first ODI wicket.
4th over: Australia 20-0 (Healy 6, Litchfield 14)
Healy gets her first look at the strike since the first over and starts by punching one over midwicket – but not very far over! It just evades a diving Jemimah to run away for four. She scales back her risk-taking endeavours after that, with three dot balls in a row before a nice pull shot finds the gap and she gets Litchfield back on strike for a harmless defensive shot to end the over.
3rd over: Australia 15-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 14)
Kashvee resumes her spell after a tight first over. Litchfield gets her feet to the ball and chips another one over the top for her second four of the innings – she’s starting to find her rhythm now, though she’s certainly taking some risks. Her next boundary is far less risky, just flicked off her pads past fine leg for four. With a total like this, if she can find two boundaries an over, it takes a lot of the pressure out of the chase early.
2nd over: Australia 7-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 6)
Kranti Gaud opens the bowling from the other end and starts with good line and length to Litchfield, who is playing her shots, but can’t pierce the inner ring with the field up for the power play. Eventually she goes aerial with a drive that she chips over the top of the field, where it falls safely and runs away for four.
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Healy 1, Litchfield 1)
Kashvee opens the bowling for India and Healy starts defensively, getting her elbow up high and playing a forward defensive to the first two balls of the innings. The third ball drifts a little further on to the leg side and Healy whips it off her pads for a comfortable single. Litchfield also takes her time getting her eye in, with a defensive shot and a little working of the ball for a single.
The teams are on the field and the chase is about to get underway!
Don’t forget you can get in touch with me via email – the link is at the top of the page. One thing I’m interested to hear from you about is captain-in-waiting Sophie Molineux. A major concern that many raised when she was named the new captain was her history of injuries. With an injury ruling her out of the remainder of this series so soon after this news, is this worrying for the team and the selectors? It did seem to be a left field choice, so it would be interesting to know whether injury breaks were factored into the decision.
Megan Maurice
Hello everyone! I hope you’re all having an enjoyable evening / (insert whichever period of the day it is where you are). That was a great first innings to watch, with both teams having periods of dominance. It feels like Australia have their noses in front at the moment with such a strong batting line up to chase this total down, but if India can bring the bowling performances they brought to the T20s, they’re very capable of defending this total. I can’t wait to see how the chase goes!
Martin Pegan
Thanks a lot for following along through the first half of the second ODI in Hobart. The multi-format series is tied at 4-4 and India have put together a total that leaves this game just as evenly poised.
Megan Maurice is here to guide you through Australia’s chase – enjoy!
India set Australia 252-run target
Australia reel in India after the tourists made a fine start when Pratika Rawal (52) and Smriti Mandhana (31) combined for a 78-run opening stand. The wheels fell off in the middle overs as India lost three key batters for only five runs and left captain Harmanpreet Kaur (54) needing to play a steady hand to rebuild the innings. Spin twins Ash Gardner (2 for 39) and Alana King (2 for 41) were key to Australia turning the game in their favour, while Risha Ghosh (22) lit some fireworks to help lift India to a competitive total of 251-9.
50th over: India 251-9 (Vaishnavi 10, Charani 0)
WICKET! Kranti c Mooney b Sutherland 19 (India 241-9)
Kranti Gaud is the next to go after edging a moving ball behind to the keeper. Mooney has to get down low to glove the ball but after several replays the India batter is sent on her way.
WICKET! Harmanpreet c Litchfield b Schutt 54 (India 241-8)
The India skipper is gone after a fine, well-paced innings. After searching for gaps on the leg-side throughout the over, Harmanpreet tries to redirect a delivery aimed toward her body back over the off-side infield but spoons the ball to Litchfield at cover.
49th over: India 241-8 (Kranti 19, Charani 0)
48th over: India 236-7 (Harmanpreet 51, Kranti 17) Harmanpreet brings up a typical fighting and well-paced fifty with a single pulled to deep backward square. The India skipper’s half-century comes from 66 balls after she took time to get going while focusing on rebuilding the innings. Five singles from the over won’t hurt Australia too much.
47th over: India 231-7 (Harmanpreet 49, Kranti 14) That’s just the over India needed as Nicola Carey loses her line. Kranti picks up three boundaries with the first fortunate to find a gap through the air and to the long-on rope. The next two are pure class as Kranti casually lofts a pair of drives over mid-off and can barely hide her surprise with a huge grin across her face.
46th over: India 218-7 (Harmanpreet 49, Kranti 1) Ash Gardner completes her set of 10 overs by taking a big wicket at a crucial time. The off-spinner helped turn the game back in Australia’s favour through the middle overs and finishes with 2 for 39.
WICKET! Kashvee b Gardner 25 (India 217-7)
As they so often do, Australia get the breakthrough just as the opposition are getting a foothold in the game. Kashvee steps on to the back foot to glance a ball drifting past her pads but drags it back from out wide on to her stumps. A cheap wicket for Gardner but hardly undeserved.
45th over: India 214-6 (Harmanpreet 47, Kashvee 24) Nicola Carey comes back into the attack for her seventh over and Harmanpreet immediately picks up the pace with a nudge down the ground for one. After a sighter, Kashvee steps forward and hoicks a shorter ball to rope at deep midwicket. Fast running for two brings up the 50-run stand – that’s two in as many matches for the middle-order pair.
44th over: India 205-6 (Harmanpreet 45, Kashvee 17) SIX! Harmanpreet brings up India’s 200 with a cracking, well timed drive over the long-on rope. Sutherland set herself to try to reel the catch in but the ball sailed over her head for the second six of the innings. The India skipper is lifting her own run rate now, and not before time.
43rd over: India 195-6 (Harmanpreet 37, Kashvee 15) Harmanpreet smacks just her second boundary of the innings by dragging the ball from well outside off back over the leg-side and past long-on. Four more singles make it a better over for India but the time to take some risks is surely now within their sight.
42nd over: India 187-6 (Harmanpreet 31, Kashvee 13) Spin for spin as India get little relief with Ash Gardner replacing Alana King. Five singles from the over when India could really do with a boundary or three.
41st over: India 182-6 (Harmanpreet 28, Kashvee 11) Australia have India where they want them with Harmanpreet and Kashvee content with a pair of singles apiece off Schutt even as the innings crawls into the last 10 overs.
40th over: India 178-6 (Harmanpreet 26, Kashvee 9) Alana King begins her last over of the innings with trademark drift and turn as the ball pitches in line with middle stump and begins to spin away. Kashvee is down on one knee sweeping once again and is fortunate the ball was doing too much as replay show it was bouncing wide of and over off-stump. Kashvee continues to sweep away without connecting before Harmanpreet is content to see off the leg-spinner with 10 overs remaining. King finishes with 2 for 41.
39th over: India 177-6 (Harmanpreet 26, Kashvee 8) Harmanpreet shapes up to ramp Schutt behind the keeper but the bowler reins in her speed and the India skipper has to wait to get bat on ball. The slow motion scoop directs the ball straight into her helmet. A better version of much the same stroke helps Harmanpreet flick the ball behind to the fine leg rope. That’s the captain’s first boundary from 46 balls.
38th over: India 172-6 (Harmanpreet 22, Kashvee 7) Kashvee goes searching for a sweep but King digs the ball in a touch shorter and has protection on the leg-side. The ball trickles under the bat and Kashvee survives. King drifts down leg and the batter punishes her with a smarter sweep fine and to the rope. Kashvee fails to keep down another sweep and picks out Schutt running in off the rope at deep mid-wicket. The pacer makes up the ground but grasses a simple catch while sliding on her knees. India are yet to make Australia pay for being well below their usual standard in the field.
37th over: India 167-6 (Harmanpreet 22, Kashvee 2) Megan Schutt returns with India looking shaky as wickets tumble around their skipper. Kashvee smashed three sixes and three boundaries in the first ODI in Brisbane but will have to play a more composed knock this time with India at risk of failing to bat out their overs.
36th over: India 163-6 (Harmanpreet 21, Kashvee 1) King gets the breakthrough just as Ghosh showed all the signs of putting together a big innings. The leg-spinner almost has another very next delivery with a half-hearted appeal for lbw. This time the ball hit the pad just outside the line.
WICKET! Ghosh lbw b King 22 (India 162-6)
Ghosh gets down on one knee and looks to sweep a fuller ball from King. She misses everything and the ball crashes into the middle of her pads. The umpire waves away the appeal but Healy is quick to send it upstairs. The replays show the ball pitched only just in line with leg stump but beyond that it has struck Ghosh in line with middle stump and would have hit it below the bails. Ghosh is beaten by the drift but the sweep probably wasn’t the shot.
35th over: India 160-5 (Harmanpreet 20, Ghosh 21) Ghosh continues to look like the dangerwoman but Carey nearly sends her on her way with an awkward length that cramps up the batter. She just gets her bat down in time to tickle the ball off the toe for a fortunate boundary to deep third.
34th over: India 153-5 (Harmanpreet 19, Ghosh 15) SIX! Ghosh is done with biding her time as she gets down on one knee and hammers the ball back down the ground to long-on. That’s the first six of the innings but just as crucially India keep the score ticking over better than they have been with four singles.
33rd over: India 143-5 (Harmanpreet 17, Ghosh 7) Carey is not at all pleased as the umpire signals a wide for the ball drifting down the leg-side. It looked and sounded like there was a bit of Ghosh’s pad on that. Mooney might have missed a stumping chance too when failing to glove the ball while the batter was falling forward and out of her crease. Brilliant fielding from King saves a boundary, with a knee slide next to the rope and taking the ball in her outside hand then flicking it behind her back.
32nd over: India 136-5 (Harmanpreet 13, Ghosh 6) Gardner has been a key to Australia turning this innings around and she concedes only a single to Ghosh to end the over with 1 for 20 from seven.
31st over: India 135-5 (Harmanpreet 13, Ghosh 5) Carey has her first wicket of the series Risha Ghosh is quick to get off the mark with a slicing cut to the rope.
WICKET! Amanjot c Mooney b Carey 13 (India 130-5)
Smart bowling from Nicola Carey has Amanjot Kaur reaching outside off-stump. But the wicket is all down to Beth Mooney who takes a sharp catch while keeping up at the stumps.
30th over: India 130-4 (Harmanpreet 13, Amanjot 13) Gardner varies her length to keep the batters guessing. Harmanpreet very nearly chips a fuller ball to Brown at cover.
29th over: India 128-4 (Harmanpreet 12, Amanjot 12) Harmanpreet chips King barely over Litchfield at cover. The young Australian leaps high but can’t quite reach the ball. Amanjot lifts King back over head with a controlled drive to the rope.
28th over: India 121-4 (Harmanpreet 10, Amanjot 7) Harmanpreet scampers through for a quick single but unlike earlier when little response from the India skipper helped cause Pratika Rawal’s downfall, the batters get through this time despite fine fielding from Litchfield.
27th over: India 117-4 (Harmanpreet 7, Amanjot 2) A rare loose delivery from Alana King gifts Amanjot Kaur with a waist high full toss that she punishes with a pull over midwicket.
26th over: India 112-4 (Harmanpreet 7, Amanjot 2) Darcie Brown replaces Annabel Sutherland and picks up where she left off with a mixed bag of wides and cracking deliveries that go away to relieving some of the pressure on India.
25th over: India 105-4 (Harmanpreet 3, Amanjot 1) The India wickets keep tumbling as they lose three scalps for five runs to hand the advantage back to Australia. Amanjot struggled with the bat in the T20s with meagre scores of three and one, but will need to build a partnership with the India captain to get their side back into the game after a bright start.
WICKET! Deepti c Carey b King 1 (India 103-4)
Deepti Sharma barely has her eye in but swings hard at a fuller delivery as she targets the deep midwicket rope. But Nicola King does not have to move and the veteran hangs onto a simple catch.
24th over: India 103-3 (Harmanpreet 2, Deepti 1) Sutherland has both of the two new batters under pressure and Harmanpreet is fortunate to survive a play and a miss outside off-stump.
23rd over: India 100-3 (Harmanpreet 1, Deepti 0) Deepti Sharma comes to the crease as Pratika Rawal’s fine knock ends with 52 from 81 deliveries. First signs that Australia are ready to turn the screws as Alana King bowls a maiden around the run out.
WICKET! Rawal run out (Sutherland/Mooney) 52 (India 100-3)
Pratika Rawal is the latest India batter to throw their wicket away as the opener cracks a drive to Sutherland at mid-on and sets off for a quick single while the captain turns her back and stands her ground. Harmanpreet barely moved from the moment the ball left King’s hand but there probably wasn’t a run in it anyway.
22nd over: India 100-2 (Rawal 52, Harmanpreet 1) Sutherland gets the crucial wicket of Rodrigues and goes to work on the India captain with off-cutters and a change of pace.