Smriti Mandhana's Century Marred As India Women Suffer 43-Run Defeat To Australia In 3rd ODI Clash Ahead Of Women's World Cup 2025

India Women vs Australia Women: Even after giving a valiant fight, Harmanpreet Kaur-led India suffered a 43-run defeat to Alyssa Healy's Australia in the third match of the women's ODI series, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, on Saturday, September 20.

Beth Mooney was named the 'Player of the Match' following her match-winning knock. Meanwhile, Smriti Mandhana bagged the Player of the Series award after scoring 300 runs in the three-match ODI series.

It was the last ODI series before the start of the upcoming Women's World Cup 2025, which will start from September 30.

The three-match ODI series would help both Australia and India to prepare for the upcoming ICC event.

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Beth Mooney Helps Australia Power To 412 In First Inning

Australia won the toss and decided to bat first against India, and Alyssa Healy's decision did go in favour of the visitors.

The Aussies displayed a stunning performance with the bat in the first inning. Beth Mooney played a blitz knock, scoring 138 runs from 75 balls at a strike rate of 184.00. She hammered 23 fours and 1 six during her time on the crease. Mooney's time came to an end after her run out in the 45th over.

Apart from Beth Mooney, Georgia Voll (81 runs from 68 balls, 14 fours) and Ellyse Perry (68 runs from 72 balls, seven fours and two sixes) also played a clutch performance, propelling Australia to 412 in the first inning.

Arundhati Reddy led the Indian bowling attack with her three-wicket haul in an 8.5-over spell. She also gifted 86 runs at an economy rate of 9.70. Renuka Singh and Deepti Sharma also bagged two wickets each in their respective spells. Kranti Gaud and Sneh Rana picked up one wicket each. The Indian bowling attack was sloppy on Saturday, September 20, but still the Women in Blue managed to bundle out Australia for 412 in 47.5 overs.

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Smriti Mandhana's Century Goes In Vain As Australia Clinch 43-Run Win

During the run chase, the Women in Blue struggled a bit. However, Harmanpreet Kaur (52 runs from 35 balls, eight fours) and Smriti Mandhana's (125 runs from 63 balls, 17 fours and 5 sixes) 121-run partnership helped India to get near the given target.

But the dismissal of Harmanpreet and Smriti, the Aussies took control of the match and bundled out India with 43 runs remaining.

Kim Garth led the Aussie bowling attack with her three-wicket haul in a nine-over spell. Megan Schutt also picked up two wickets in her seven-over spell. The Aussie bowlers bowled out the Indian batting order with three overs remaining.

With the win, Australia clinched the three-match Women's ODI series by 2-1 against India. The Women in Blue clinched just one match in the series, which was in the second game when they sealed a 102-run victory over the Aussies.