3rd ODI: Wasn't a surprise that India came out in blazing fashion, says Mooney

New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Faced with chasing a gigantic 413, India made a spirited effort to chase the total at a break-neck speed, powered by Smriti Mandhana’s record-breaking 125 and fifties from Deepti Sharma and Harmanpreet Kaur.

But Australia, true to their reputation as current world champions, struck at regular intervals to halt the blazing charge and clinch a 43-run win to the ODI series 2–1. Beth Mooney, who scored a blistering 138 earlier in the game and play yet another stellar knock in meetings against India, said she wasn’t surprised over the hosts’ coming out all guns blazing.

“It was a good game of ODI cricket, to be honest. I think when you're chasing that many runs, you can only go one way. So it wasn't a surprise to me that they came out and played like that.

“There were a few chances that went up that we couldn't quite get our hands on and things like that, and that's the way the game goes sometimes. But, in terms of being a fan of the game, I'm sure it was an amazing game of cricket to watch,” she said at the conclusion of the game.

When Smriti was bringing one shot after the other to enthrall the sizeable crowd, pressure was evident on Australia when they had their own share of misfields and bloopers in fielding. But when Harmanpreet Kaur was tending to an injury, Australia got the space to regroup and from there, they made timely strikes to make the result a foregone conclusion in their favour.

“We know throughout this series, Smriti has come out really hard. She's a classy player and has been amazing for India across the last couple of years in particular. So from my point of view, it was just about remaining composed as well as the rest of the group and knowing that we're going to get some chances.

“Unfortunately, early on, they didn't quite stick. But once we got there in the end and got a few wickets and built some pressure that way, sort of killed the game a little bit at the end. I think while Harman was having a break, it was just a good chance for us to reset, to be honest, and get together and have a chat.

“Absolutely nothing more than that other than getting together. I'm not the skipper, so not sure why Grace came on. My only thought would be perhaps the off spin was a match up to Smriti and it worked in the end. So probably the right call,” Mooney elaborated.

Saturday’s game also served a reminder of Australia’s bounceback abilities, especially after suffering a record 102-run loss in second ODI in New Chandigarh. “From my point of view, we've played some really good ODI cricket in the last two years and we're humans.”

“So we sometimes make some mistakes and make some wrong decisions along the way. Perhaps that's where we fell short the other day. But from my point of view, just the style of play we came out with was excellent and held our composure with the ball as well. So I couldn't ask for much more from the group.

“I think to win World Cups, you've got to be the most adaptable team and the most composed team. We showed that a lot here when Smriti was obviously coming quite hard and building some partnerships with Harman and then Deepti coming in at the end. So it's been nice to see the girls come up with different ideas with the ball and the fielders back it up,” added Beth.

On a flat pitch and lightning quick outfield, Beth hit the ground running from the word go and ensured Australia didn’t lose tempo by hitting boundaries quite regularly. In all, she toyed with the erratic Indian bowling attack to hit 23 fours and a six in her career-best knock in the format.

“It was a pretty flat wicket. So you sort of had to make hay while the sun shines. Once you got in, you really had to go large. We saw that with Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, even Ash Gardner came out with great intent. So probably fell away a little bit at the back end without having a set batter. But you would take 412 at the start of the day.

The run-fest at the Arun Jaitley Stadium will also be remembered for the vast possibilities which can happen in women’s ODIs, especially with a World Cup on the horizon. “I think hopefully there's not too many flat wickets like that at the World Cup because I don't know if I've got the stamina to last seven or eight games like that going the full distance.

“But, it certainly shows what's possible in the women's game now if you play with the right tempo and the right mindset. So hopefully they don't all go like that, but I think it's a really great spectacle for where the game's at and hopefully where the game's going to go moving forward,” concluded Mooney.

--IANS

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