India coach Amol Muzumdar picked out lack of application on the part of the batters for his team's disappointing start to the Women's ODI series against Australia on Thursday, saying the side definitely needed some more runs on the board.

Harmanpreet Kaur's side suffered a five-wicket defeat with the visitors struggling to reach a mere 100 runs before being dismissed in 34.2 overs. Australia, led by new captain Tahlia McGrath, scored the required runs in just 16.2 overs to showcase their domination on home turf.

"Definitely, I am disappointed because we were expecting some more runs. It wasn't the best wicket as they (Australia) also lost many (five) wickets chasing 100 runs," Muzumdar said in the post-match press conference.

"If we could have applied ourselves a little bit better with the bat, we could have got more runs on the board. You never know what can happen in cricket, so we needed a few more runs."

Australia too stumbled a bit in the run chase, losing three wickets midway through the chase before an unbeaten 46 from Georgia Voll guided them to victory with 202 balls to spare.

Muzumdar, though, was happy with pacer Renuka Thakur, who removed stalwarts Ellyse Perry and Beth Mooney in the ninth over to put Australia in a spot of bother. Young leg-spinner Priya Mishra too took two wickets to give the hosts the jitters.

"The bowlers, especially young ones, did a fantastic job which is a good sign for Indian cricket. Priya is in her second series in international cricket. She did well against New Zealand and was really impressive today," he said.

Asked about the team's preparations for the ongoing three-match series, Muzumdar said the squad didn't get enough time together but it was fully geared up for the challenge.

"To be honest, after the New Zealand series, most of the players played two T20 domestic tournaments and some players were here for the WBBL (Women's Big Bash League). So we couldn't get much time together as a squad," he said.

"We had two outdoor sessions here and one was washed out. But, having said that, we all are geared up for the series," he added.

Muzumdar also said the coaching staff was trying to stabilise the batting order and bowling line-up ahead of the World Cup in India next year.

"These bilateral series we will try a few young players, like Titas (Sadhu) made her debut today and Harleen Deol has come after a long injury layoff. We are trying to stabilise the batting order and the bowling line up ahead of the WC," he said.

On the absence of all-rounder Puja Vatrakar for the series, he said she was injured and undergoing rehabilitation at the NCA.

He added that the NCA support staff was helping a lot with the preparations.

"I am very happy with the support staff, which is fully linked with the NCA. A lot of work goes behind the scenes at the NCA before any international match. Having Avishkar Salvi as bowling coach has really helped a lot. Troy Culley is also an integral part of the NCA," he said.

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