Australia v India: first women’s one-day international – live! | Sport

That was a much needed wicket, Brown will be very happy with that effort. Shafali gets a feather to the ball and sends it straight to Healy who takes it with glee.

3rd over: India 30-0 (Shafali 8, Smriti 12)

Another wide from Perry to start the third over, she’s looking frustrated at being unable to find her line and length early. She follows it up with a nice length ball for a dot, before a brilliant cut shot from Smriti, which nearly goes for four, but is saved by a brilliant fielding effort from Rachael Haynes. Unfortunately the next ball is a full toss and it’s an absolute gift for Smriti, who flicks it past deep midwicket for four. Perry looks rattled and bowls a very wide wide next ball and then a less wide wide after that. I’d be surprised to see her come back for another over just yet. She finishes the over with a single thanks to good fielding by Brown, but gives away 16 from the over.

2nd over: India 14-0 (Shafali 8, Smriti 3)

Darcie Brown opens from the other end, bringing her express pace to the game and starts with two dots, which will give her plenty of confidence. Smriti gets off the mark on the third ball, getting the ball down to deep square leg for two. Brown bowls a wide late in the over, but tightens up with two dots to finish in a nice, tidy start.

1st over: India 10-0 (Shafali 8, Smriti 0)

Perry takes the first over for Australia, leading with experience. Verma takes a ball to have a look at her, before finding the gap and sending the second ball to the fence past deep extra cover for four. Perry follows up with a couple of wides – it’s not the ideal start for her. She tightens it up with a much better line and a dot ball. A half chance on the fourth ball of the over with an uncontrolled shot from Verma, but it flies over Healy’s head and to the boundary for another four. Perry finishes with a dot, but it’s not the best start for her.

A good question from Ian Harkin on Twitter:

I like this idea – definitely two huge performers for the two teams and a nice catchy name, which this series is lacking. I’m interested to hear others’ thoughts – drop them in the comments below.

India have a strong looking team as well – most notably Richa Ghosh, the 17-year-old wicketkeeper who will be looking to make her mark with both the bat and the gloves. Poonam Yadav is another one we’ll be looking out for – she was devastating for India in that opening game of the T20 World Cup last year. She absolutely destroyed the Australian batters with her looping deliveries. She wasn’t as effective in the final, but she’ll be looking to replicate that first game effort today.

It’s a nice, balanced looking XI for Australia today – they have the express pace of Brown, some spin from Molineux and Wareham, Darlington’s death bowling prowess and of course the magic Perry brings, along with all-rounders Gardener and McGrath. It looks like a good decision from Lanning to bowl first and get these players into the action ASAP.

Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Poonam Yadav

Rachael Haynes, Alyssa Healy (wk), Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Hannah Darlington, Darcie Brown

Ooh, some very exciting news today with Hannah Darlington making her debut! The 19-year-old was a star for the champion Sydney Thunder side in the WBBL last year, with some sensational death bowling, so it will be very interesting to see what she can deliver here. As a self-confessed Hannah Darlington diehard fangirl, I’m delighted to be able to be talk about her in her debut today.