Kashvee Gautam to Georgia Voll, A very low full toss, swings into the legs, Voll clips it to deep backward square leg for a single.
Kashvee Gautam to Georgia Voll, Should have been put away. Short and wide outside off, Voll reaches out and cuts it straight to backward point.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Better length from Gaud, a touch fuller and around middle, Litchfield blocks it off.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! Best of the lot from Phoebe Litchfield. Short again, around off, Phoebe Litchfield comes down the pitch once again and crunches the pull in front of mid-wicket to make it a hat-trick of boundaries.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! Back-to-back boundaries for Litchfield. Shorter in length again, over middle, Litchfield takes a couple of steps ahead and pulls it firmly to the left of Amanjot Kaur at deep square leg for another boundary.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! Quick hands from Litchfield. Shorter on middle and leg, Phoebe swivels and pulls it flat towards deep backward square leg and picks up a boudary.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Good work in the field from Kashvee Gautam. Back of a length, around off, punched down to the right of cover-poit where Gautam dives and stops a certain boundary.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Full and straight, almost in the blockhole, Litchfield jams it back to the bowler.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Driven nicely but there's a fielder in the deep. Pitched full and outside off, Litchfield smacks it to sweeper cover and picks up another single. Five runs and a wicket off Gautam's third over.
Kashvee Gautam to Georgia Voll, Full and straight, shapes back in again, Voll wrists it behind square leg and turns the strike over.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Good length outside off, patted down to the left of point for a much easier single this time around.
Kashvee Gautam to Georgia Voll, A risky single but Voll gets off the mark. Full and swinging back into the legs, clipped away to mid on for a quick single.
Kashvee Gautam to Georgia Voll, Good length on off, straightens a touch, Georgia Voll gets right behind the line of the ball to block.
Georgia Voll replaces the Australian Women's skipper in the middle.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, OUT! TIMBER! Probably the second last time we see Alyssa Healy bat in Australia colors and she departs early. Kashvee Gautam bowls it full and straight, gets the ball to shape back in sharply. Healy falls over a bit as she looks to flick and plays all around a straight ball. The ball takes a bit of an inside edge and goes on to rattle the stumps behind. Kashvee is delighted as she should be and Australia Women ow need 231 runs off 275 balls.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, WIDE. Full and slanted down the leg side. Richa Ghosh is standing up to the stumps and now and that's a sharp take from her.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Good length on middle, shaping back in, Litchfield gets on her toes and defends it down the pitch.
Kranti Gaud to Alyssa Healy, Banged in even shorter and over middle, Healy gets inside the line and angles the pull down to deep backward square leg for one.
Kranti Gaud to Alyssa Healy, Short of a length and around off, Healy gets into a side-on stance and pulls it down to mid on.
Kranti Gaud to Alyssa Healy, Good length in the channel, blocked off by Healy.
Kranti Gaud to Alyssa Healy, Beaten! On a hard length and outside off, nibbling away, Healy has a poke away from, the body but misses.
Kranti Gaud to Alyssa Healy, FOUR! A checked-pull, just wide of the fielder and goes to the fence. Short of a length and around off, doesn't rise much. Healy jabs it away, aerially and past the leaping fielder at mid-wicket for a boundary.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Good length on off, shaping away a touch, Litchfield pats it down to cover-point.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Short of a good length, straighter at the stumps, Litchfield covers the line and blocks it off.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR MORE! Easy pickings this time for Litchfield. Too full, shaping down leg, Litchfield flicks it fine towards the fine leg fence and picks up another boundary, her third one already.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Just back of a length, slanting across off stump, Litchfield stays back and glides it to the right of poit, where Jemimah Rodrigues makes the stop.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! That's positive strokeplay from Litchfield. Fuller in length, on off and middle, PL comes down the pitch, stays low and hammers it over mid off for a boundary.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, That in-between length, nips away from middle to off, Litchfield stays back and defends it late towards point.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Hard length on leg, turned away past mid-wicket for a single by Litchfield.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Back of a length, on off and nips back in a touch. Litchfield gets upright and pushes it down to cover-point.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, FOUR! Up and over. Fuller in length, on off and middle, Phoebe Litchfield gets her head down and plays the lofted shot, gets it over wide mid off and picks up the first boundary of the chase.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Good-length delivery, slanted across off, Litchfield gets on her toes and punches it down to point.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Nagging length, shapes back into the left-hander. Litchfield tucks it down to mid on.
Kranti Gaud to Phoebe Litchfield, Pitched up, full and on off, Litchfield presses halfway forward and eases it to the left of point.
Kranti Gaud will be bowling with the other new ball.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, Left alone by Healy and that's a watchful start to the chase from Australia. Full and wide outside off, shapes back in a bit, Healy lets it through to the keeper. Just 2 runs off it.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, Length, around leg stump, tapped away in frot of mid-wicket for a quick single by Litchfield.
Kashvee Gautam to Phoebe Litchfield, On a good length again, nips across from leg to off for the left-hander. Phoebe Litchfield blocks it off.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, Healy and Australia Women are off the mark. Full and straight, flicked away to deep mid-wicket for a single.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, Good length, just a tad short and outside off, Healy hops up to defend it down towards point.
Kashvee Gautam to Alyssa Healy, Some swing right away for Gautam. Pitched full and wide outside off, curves back into the right-hander. Alyssa Healy gets a good stride in and inside-edges it back onto the pads.
Welcome back to the all-important run chase. The umpires are back out in the middle and the Indian players form a huddle before taking their places on the field. It will be the duo of Phoebe Litchfield and skipper Alyssa Healy to open the innings for Australia Women. The sun is going down and the weather is getting cooler. There might be some dew later on as well. Kashvee Gautam will take the new ball for India Women. Let's go...
... THE RUN CHASE ...
Looking ahead - With the deck showing signs of a turn and variable bounce, India Women will look for early wickets to defend this total and level the three-match series. The Aussies will need the batting unit to fire again and get past this Indian total to gain a 6-4 lead in this multi-format series. We will be back in a bit with the chase.
Skipper Kaur rallies the lower order - In the final phase, India’s captain Harmanpreet Kaur stood tall to steer the team out of trouble. Battling a lingering knee injury from the previous match, Kaur anchored the innings with a crucial half-century. She found valuable support from the lower order, including Kashvee Gautam and Kranti Gaud, who contributed vital runs to help push the total past the 250-run mark. For Australia, Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King bowled well and picked up two each, while Nicola Carey and Megan Schutt chipped in with one apiece.
Aussie spinners trigger a dramatic collapse - The second phase saw a sharp shift in momentum as Australia’s bowlers, led by their spinners, tightened the screws around the 18th over. After Smriti's dismissal, Jemimah Rodrigues walked in but failed to make an impact, departing for 11 after nicking a ball from Annabel Sutherland to the keeper. The biggest blow came when the well-set Pratika Rawal on 52 suffered a brainfade, resulting in a run-out that completely turned the tables in Australia's favour. Spinners Ashleigh Gardner and Alana King capitalized on the pressure, picking up two wickets each as the Indian middle order struggled with pace variations. Deepti Sharma fell cheaply for 1, and while Richa Ghosh and Amanjot Kaur got starts, they were unable to convert them into big scores.
Brilliant opening stand sets the platform - The first phase of the innings belonged entirely to India as the openers laid a solid foundation, scoring freely to put the Australian attack under pressure. Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana looked comfortable early on, stitching together a 78-run opening partnership. While Mandhana was not at her fluent best, surviving a few edges and dropped chances, she provided the necessary support to the more compact Pratika. The breakthrough finally came when Ashleigh Gardner cleaned up Mandhana for 31 off 37 balls after she attempted a ramp.
India posts a competitive total - India Women posts a hard-fought total of 251 runs after 50 overs, setting a challenging target for Australia at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. Despite a dramatic middle-order collapse, a captain’s knock from Harmanpreet Kaur ensured the visitors have a defendable score on a surface that looks like a good one for batting.
Annabel Sutherland to Vaishnavi Sharma, Oh, an overthrow and India Women do cross the crucial 250-run mark on the final ball. Good-length delivery, around off, Vaishnavi pushes it to extra cover and sets off for the single. The fielder has a shy at the bowler's end but misses and the batters manage to pick up the second run as the fielder backing up is a bit deep. India Women finish with 251/9 on the board.
Annabel Sutherland to Vaishnavi Sharma, FOUR! That's well struck by the debutant. Short and well wide outside off, Vaishnavi Sharma reaches out and uppercuts it over the backward point region and picks up another boundary.