A desperate India will need their under-fire batters to step up in the second Women's ODI against Australia here on Sunday, as the visitors aim to avoid yet another series loss Down Under.
India's batting woes continued as the tourists were bundled out for 100 in the series opener, leading to a demoralising five-wicket defeat, their heaviest in terms of balls remaining since ODIs were reduced to 50 overs a side.
India have never won a series Down Under and they will have their task cut out against a quality Australian side, which showed no signs of rust despite playing in the format after a gap of nine months.
On the other hand, it was the Indians who appeared under-prepared as the squad was unable to train together as some of the players were competing in domestic T20 tournaments while others played in the Women's Big Bash League.
Additionally, one of their two practice sessions here was washed out due to rain.
After opting to bat, the Indian batters were unable to capitalise on good batting conditions. They lost wickets at regular intervals, were unable to stitch partnerships, and were done in by Megan Schutt's brilliant spell with the new ball.
"We were expecting a good score if our batters had applied themselves better. If we had more runs on the scoreboard, anything could have happened." India coach Amol Muzumdar conceded after the match.
With the batting inconsistencies continuing from the New Zealand series, time is running out for India, who will host the ODI World Cup next year.
The Indian think tank will be keen to stabilise their batting and bowling line-up ahead of the marquee event.
Even though the bowlers had a small target to defend, they did well to pick five wickets. The only silver lining in an otherwise forgettable outing for India was pacer Renuka Thakur and young leg-spinner Priya Mishra.
The tourists will have to regroup fast and having already played a game here, they will hope to give a better account of themselves.
"The major thing we talked about was that one match doesn't make you a good team or a bad team. We played a match and it did not go our way. It's fine, we'll take a step back and evaluate what we could have done better. We have played some good cricket this year we will take it from there.
"The conditions are a little different then we are used to but we will be able to adjust to it," pacer Titas Sadhu said on the eve of the second ODI.
Meanwhile, Australia produced an almost flawless performance despite missing regular skipper Alyssa Healy.
Veteran pacer Schutt registered career-best figures of 5/19 before young opener Georgia Voll impressed on debut.
Australia will be keen on putting up a similar display to seal another series win against India but the hosts are unlikely to take Harmanpreet Kaur and Co lightly.
"India cannot be underestimated and we will not make the mistake of being complacent. I think the Indian batsmen will come back strongly in the next match but I have worked a lot on my bowling and I hope to maintain this rhythm,"she had said after the first match," Schutt had said after the opener.
Teams (from):
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Priya Punia, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harleen Deol, Uma Chetry, Richa Ghosh (wk), Tejal Hasabnis, Deepti Sharma, Minnu Mani, Priya Mishra, Radha Yadav, Titas Sadhu, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh Thakur, Saima Thakor
Australia: Tahlia McGrath (c), Ashleigh Gardner (vc), Darcie Brown, Kim Garth, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham Match starts 5.15 am IST.
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