India had a poor day in the field after another fine spell from Jhulan Goswami had made early inroads

Australia 264 for 9 (Gardner 67, Mooney 62, Goswami 3-37, Vastrakar 3-46) v India

Half-centuries from Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney backed up by Tahlia McGrath‘s 47-run cameo set up Australia’s formidable 264 for 9 in in the third ODI in Mackay. Woeful fielding, as was the sticking point in India’s botched defence of 274 two days ago, undid a lot of the work of the early inroads made by their attack on a used Ray Mitchell Oval surface with decent carry and movement.

India dropped four genuine chances and conceded at least 15 runs via misfields and missed run-out opportunities after incisive swing-bowling spells from Jhulan Goswami and Meghna Singh had Rachael Haynes and Meg Lanning depart in the powerplay. Both fell to Goswami, for 13 and 0 respectively, the veteran quick returning 6-2-15-2 in her first spell. Alyssa Healy was the next to depart, as Rajeshwari Gayakwad, ran her out at the non-striker’s end with a deflection off Ellyse Perry’s straight drive.

After Goswami’s spell, Gayakwad and Sneh Rana bowled in tandem for the next eight overs, with Deepti Sharma’s offspin introduced in the 20th. The following over, pacer Pooja Vastrakar’s first delivery had Mooney beaten on the inside edge and, along with Sharma, she kept the scoring rate in check as Australia scored just two boundaries in a 15-over phase. The streak ended with Mooney dancing down and lofting Sharma for a four down the ground, to add her first boundary to her tally of 9 off 18.

No. 4 Ellyse Perry anchored a short-lived rebuild, making 26 off 47 balls, adding 25 with Mooney. Along the way, Perry became the fifth Australian woman to 5000 international runs. Belinda Clark, Karen Rolton, Alex Blackwell and Lanning had achieved that feat before Perry.

Australia reached 100 in 27.1 overs, the slowest they’ve been to the mark since the start of the ODI-winning streak in March 2018. But India’s inability to capitalise on the slow start meant No. 5 Mooney, coming off a match-winning 125 not out, and Gardner milked singles and twos and found the boundaries intermittently, many of which stemmed from misfields.

Mooney received a reprieve on 29 as she drove uppishly to cover where Goswami dropped the sitter off Gayakwad. She played out a maiden against Rana in the next over, setting herself up for two close shaves as Goswami reentered the attack for her second spell. The first ball off the 35th over saw Goswami miss Mooney’s off stump by a whisker and three balls later lofted tantalisingly close to short midwicket. On 38, came a second lifeline as Rana botched up a straightforward return catch.

Gardner brought up her fifty, a fourth in the format, with a majestic inside-ought six over deep cover in the 40th over. One ball later, Mooney reached a half-century of her own, the third one in as many limited-over innings against India dating back to the 2020 T20 World Cup final, with a four to midwicket. Just when Australia appeared set to step on the gas, though, a slog sweep saw offspinner Rana’s full ball crash into Mooney’s middle stump. Her stand with Gardner ended at 98 off 93 balls.

Australia added 80 in the last ten overs for the loss of four wickets abetted significantly by McGrath’s innings and the shoddy show from the Indian fielders. Gardner was dropped on 62, as fielders converged at short cover, under a skier, only for the wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh to call for the catch and have it spill out of her gloves.

Shafali Verma, for her part, would follow it up with a shelled chance when McGrath was on 28 and she trotted to 47 off 32 before Vastrakar had her caught by Raj at short backward square leg.

A four-run over from Goswami, who had a mixed day in the field herself with a drop, multiple misfields, and 3 for 37 against her name, rounded out the innings as Australia put themselves in a strong position to keep their winning streak alive.