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

4th over: India 28-0 (Verma 15, Mandhana 4) McGrath with a tighter fourth-stump line and a length just short of good. She keeps India’s openers honest and almost benefits from a leading edge but the false shot doesn’t carry to the offside ring fielders.

3rd over: India 25-0 (Verma 14, Mandhana 2) Perry again finds extravagant movement in the air, but she begins the over bowling to the left-handed Mandhana, which means four wides down the legside. Inida pick up four more when the inswinger beats Verma between bat and pad but Healy is beaten by the low bounce and concedes some ugly byes. Another hooping wide continues Perry’s frustrating over, and that is magnified further when Verma slashes a very healthy edge that goes for another four, this time low between keeper and slip. Maybe a half-chance? Maybe not. India off to a flyer despite not very much coming off the middle of the bat.

2nd over: India 10-0 (Verma 6, Mandhana 1) Tahlia McGrath shares the new ball but she starts with a wayward line, conceding a couple of legside wides and a four through square-leg. India’s first boundary was courtesy of Verma flicking her wrists in front of her front pad with exquisite timing.

1st over: India 1-0 (Verma 0, Mandhana 0) Ellyse Perry opens the bowling for Australia and she’s quickly onto a good line and length with some nice shape away from the right-handed Shafali Verma. That shape got a bit too shapey out of the hand for a wide, but that’s the only run from an over that ends with a swish and miss outside off. Good start for Australia.

The teams are back out in the middle under a clear blue Mackay sky.

50th over: Australia 265-9 (Carey 12, Campbell 0) On debut, Stella Campbell gets to come to the middle with her gear on, though she won’t get to face a ball. One left in the innings, and she gets to run to the striker’s end after Carey hits it to cover.

That wasn’t much of a throw from Gayakwad at long-on, well wide of the non-striker’s stumps, but the stretchy arms of Goswami are able to gather it wide of her body on one side, then go all the way to the stumps on the other side of her body to beat Molineux by an inch as the Australians attempt to run two from a Carey whack down the ground.

Annabel Sutherland does her job, goes for it first ball, flicking nicely off her pads from Goswami but airborne to midwicket.

49th over: Australia 260-7 (Carey 9) Slower ball from Vastrakar, giving McGrath no pace so she can only cut a single. Carey charges and slices high but into a gap behind point. That gives McGrath the chance to go back to the next slower ball, and muscle it through forward square leg for four. Real power in her strokeplay to the leg side especially. Gets a bouncer. Short third in the circle, so McGrath uppercuts over the top of her!

And more appalling fielding as the ball approaches the rope. Goswami is chasing it but slows up as the ball does the same, not willing or able to dive after it, and instead just tries to reach over it and tap it back. But misses. Four.

Finally, from the sixth ball, Vastrakar gets something for herself. Bangs in the bouncer, it digs into the pitch and sits up, McGrath backing away looking for room but it follows her, and her cross-bat swipe only yields a top edge. Miraculously, Ghosh holds onto it. It comes flat and she doesn’t have time to think.

48th over: Australia 249-6 (McGrath 38, Carey 7) Goswami fires in straight, McGrath advancing jams it into her pad and it stops dead. Carey is awake to where the ball has gone, and darts through to the danger end for a run, racing Goswami to the ball. Shafali Verma is having some five minutes. She backs up Goswami’s flick at the stumps, getting behind the keeper, but nearly knocks the ball into the spare helmet for five extras. Then she misfields Carey’s shot at backward point to get McGrath back on strike. Even when Vastrakar fields cleanly at deep backward square, her throw is way wide of the stumps and the Aussies run an easy two.

47th over: Australia 243-6 (McGrath 34, Carey 5) I’ll make a prediction here. India are going to get knocked over cheaply today. They’re rattled. They’re irritable. They’re arguing with one another. Because Carey slogs away, big top edge that is coming earthbound at midwicket inside the circle, and Verma trots in and drops yet another catch. Such a simple one, yet by now you’re expecting the drop more than the take.

Vastrakar is cost a third wicket. Strays down leg to Carey to follow, off the pad and guess what? Misfield from the keeper. Gives away a leg bye. Then McGrath reaches out and toe-ends a cut shot fine through deep third for four.

46th over: Australia 234-6 (McGrath 28, Carey 3) Nicola Carey tries to find her range, missing a reverse sweep before making contact with a flick. McGrath has no such trouble, advancing to drive Deepti for four through cover. Perfect contact with that ball, turning the bat inside out to get the angle. Then pulls two runs, via another misfield at backward square. Nine from the over.

45th over: Australia 225-6 (McGrath 21, Carey 1) Vastrakar has done a wonderful job today. Four runs from her previous over, five runs and the wicket from this one, after Australia were racing. Still on track for a big score, even if they just knock it around from here.

The captain says, here’s how you hang onto one! At last. A surprise ball from Vastrakar, the wrist-spinning slower ball from the seamer. Doesn’t land it right, it’s going down the leg side, but Gardner tries to flip it fine and instead gets a top edge flat to short fine leg.

44th over: Australia 220-5 (Gardner 63, McGrath 21) McGrath drives to deep cover, and another failed dive gives up four. That was the first tough one where it would have been a good stop rather than a routine one, Rana diving but not timing it.

Next ball, a missed run out thanks to a poor throw from Vastrakar! Fields at cover as McGrath plays tip and run, but throws high and wide so the keeper has to move her hands too far to the stumps.

Next ball? DROPPED! The worst of the day by a mile. Gardner slog-sweeps Gayakward. Huge top edge, straight up the chimney. Ghosh trots out from behind the stumps, sets her gloves under it… and just doesn’t complete the catch.

What an awful, awful over of cricket from India. An awful 20 overs or so, but this one is the cherry on the sundae.

43rd over: Australia 212-5 (Gardner 61, McGrath 15) Pooja Vastrakar returns, and suddenly it’s a different game. A couple of singles. Gardner beaten utterly by a bouncer that zips through. Then skews away a shot towards long-on, and Gayakwad hangs back to field rather than coming in to try to catch. More weak fielding from this group, they need a truth and reconciliation commission with their coaches after today. Four from the over.

42nd over: Australia 208-5 (Gardner 59, McGrath 13) Sneh Rana bowls well, and again is let down. Gardner attacks the ball and gets a lot on it, but Rana got it to dip at the last second, meaning Gardner doesn’t get all of it. It goes down to long-on, but Shafali Verma is not back on the rope. She lets it go over her head because she’s out of position. You wonder why she’s even there in the first place, as a pretty poor fielder at this early stage of her career. But then the way everyone else has fielded today, Raj doesn’t have a lot of options.

McGrath is playing well, sharply calling Gardner through for a bye as the keeper fumbles a high-bouncing ball, then McGrath drives four behind point.

The last seven overs have conceded 13, 10, 12, 10, 8, 7, 13.

41st over: Australia 195-5 (Gardner 53, McGrath 7) Into the last ten, India relieved to take a wicket at this point which may help them slow things down. Or, the way Tahli McGrath can smash the ball, it may not. She attacks early, down the track to hit Gayakwad at cover, half stopped for one run. Gets the strike back. Two runs to deep midwicket, with another ordinary bit of fielding meaning there’s no pressure on the second, then a poor ball down leg that McGrath sweeps fine for four. India can’t keep things consistent.

40th over: Australia 185-5 (Gardner 51) Eventful over! Both players raise their half-century, Gardner going to 50 from 50 balls, Mooney 52 from 63. Gardner does it with a lofted six over long-off that just clears the fielder. Mooney does it by lifting a shot into the gap at midwicket for four.

Last ball of the over though, Rana does her in flight. Mooney shuffles forward a step to attack, then changes her mind and tries to sweep, but the ball dips and eludes her shot, cleaning up her stumps. A fine one-day series for Mooney comes to an end with the bat.

39th over: Australia 173-4 (Mooney 47, Gardner 44) Guess what? Boundary from a misfield. Deepti Sharma, swept by Gardner, Goswami at short fine leg goes down but doesn’t get a hand to it as the ball goes by to her left. Australia were in trouble, now Australia in command, and beside the drops India have given away about 30 runs from their fielding today. The bowling follows suit, Deepti down the leg side and Gardner can just nudge it through fine leg for four.

38th over: Australia 163-4 (Mooney 46, Gardner 35) And just as I type that, Mooney gets dropped again! Sneh Rana this time, a return catch chance goes down. Mooney down the track and hits it pretty hard but straight back. Slightly awkward height, around the sternum, where Rana doesn’t know whether to go with her fingers pointing up or down. She flinches at the key moment, and instead of catching the ball she damages her spinning finger. Gets some treatment for it and continues. But they dropped Beth Mooney on Friday night, and now twice today. Again letting a match slip after good work.

Mooney celebrates by going back and pulling a short ball for four behind square. And celebrates some more with a flamingo flick shot through midwicket! Another misfield on the rope, Vastrakar this time when she’s well placed for the dive and just doesn’t touch the ball. This is actually awful.

37th over: Australia 155-4 (Mooney 38, Gardner 35) Feeling good, Gardner decides to belt Goswami over long-on for six. The only problem is that she misses the ball. Doesn’t miss the next one, wide of off stump and sliced over backward point, and another poor bit of boundary fielding lets through another boundary. Shafali Verma this time, leaning down with one hand instead of sliding to get her body behind the ball. They’ve been really ordinary in the field again today, India, not backing up their good bowling.

36th over: Australia 148-4 (Mooney 35, Gardner 31) That gets the Australian foot on the pedal! Sneh Rana loses purchase on the ball and sends down a head-high full toss. Only at off-spin pace, don’t worry. Gardner doesn’t, she clobbers the thing through square for four. Then does much the same with the resulting free hit, after a no-ball is called. They end up with 13 from the over.

35th over: Australia 135-4 (Mooney 34, Gardner 20) Goswami returns, with four overs of her allotment remaining, and nearly bowls Mooney first ball! Nipping between bat and pad as Mooney fences off the back foot, and missing the off stump by about a centimetre. A few balls later, Goswami bowls a low full toss looking for the yorker, and Mooney drags it bottom-handed across her body, just wide of mid-on. Gets four, gets lucky.

34th over: Australia 130-4 (Mooney 30, Gardner 20) Sneh Rana bowling with lots of flight, letting the ball drop outside the off stump and keeping Gardner thinking about the dip and where it will pitch. Plays a couple of shots towards point that are fielded, but four times Gardner either blocks or just prods at the ball. Excellent over, hitting that perfect in-between length. Scoreless over to Ash Gardner in limited-overs cricket is an achievement.

33rd over: Australia 130-4 (Mooney 30, Gardner 20) Gayakwad bowls, and Mooney is dropped at cover! Width, drills the shot away but has to reach for it and so lifts the shot. Meghna Singh has to reach to her right at about head height, and it’s travelling, but catchable. Parries it away.

32nd over: Australia 128-4 (Mooney 29, Gardner 19) Schmacko! Gardner leans into a drive against Meghna and clobbers it back down the ground. Over mid-off. Top shot, after chipping two over cover. Danger, danger.

31st over: Australia 121-4 (Mooney 28, Gardner 13) Drinks break, then four singles from Gayakwad’s over. Gardner is still using her feet decisively, even when rotating the strike.

30th over: Australia 117-4 (Mooney 26, Gardner 11) A long conference between the Indians about fields and approach, as Meghna Singh comes back to bowl. Outswing operator. Conventional field. Gaps aplenty. Mooney drops the ball to backward point and takes a sharp run, an unnecessary third umpire review finds Gardner well in her ground. A few singles, then Mooney plays the unusual charging leg glance for two runs to end the over.

29th over: Australia 111-4 (Mooney 22, Gardner 10) Deep cover is out, so when Gardner smokes Vastrakar aerially in that direction she only gets one run. Four singles from the over though, runs coming a little easier.

28th over: Australia 107-4 (Mooney 20, Gardner 8) There goes Gardner, stepping down to hit Deepti over mid-off. Her first boundary. Could be quite the show if she bats through the innings.

27th over: Australia 99-4 (Mooney 18, Gardner 2) Poor fielding again by Goswami. She’s undone by the second bounce as Mooney whacks Vastrakar towards mid-on. It spins past Goswami’s hands at ground level and away for four, unfair given how well Vastrakar has bowled. The bowler bangs in a bouncer but it’s wild down the leg side. A better bounce gets called wide because the first wide was the permitted short ball for the over. It’s not a bowler’s game.

26th over: Australia 90-4 (Mooney 12, Gardner 1) Three singles from Deepti Sharma’s over, Gardner taking her time to have a look.

25th over: Australia 87-4 (Mooney 10, Gardner 0) Vastrakar finishes the over perfectly, a wicket and no score. Beats Gardner’s edge first ball, has her watching the rest go by.

Ellyse perished! Not sure whether that was luck or targeting a strength, but Vastrakar bowls short and wide, and Perry has received so few loose balls that she snaps at it, not keeping the cut shot down while hitting it straight to the fielder at point.

24th over: Australia 87-3 (Perry 26, Mooney 10) First sign of intent for a while! Down the track comes Mooney, lofting Deepti straight down the ground for four. Deepti bails out of a delivery. Not sure if she was thinking about Perry’s footwork or whether Beth Mooney was wandering out of her ground at the non-striker’s end. Finishes the over conceding two singles plus the boundary.

23rd over: Australia 81-3 (Perry 25, Mooney 5) The gradual accumulation continues, three runs from Vastrakar. A bit of a stalemate, Australia will still back themselves to accelerate later if these two hang around to set a base, but India won’t mind these economical overs because they just need one wicket at the right time to turn the slow scoring rate to their advantage.

22nd over: Australia 78-3 (Perry 24, Mooney 4) Deepti Sharma finds her range to Mooney, bowling over the wicket to the lefty but landing everything in line with the stumps at a decent length, not giving her room. Mooney has to go across the line in dicey fashion to get a run.