Oz take unassailable 2-0 lead to clinch ODI series

Mumbai : Australia eked out a three-run win over India in the second women's ODI to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series here on Saturday.

Opting to bat, the tourists rallied to post 258/8 on the back of opener Phoebe Litchfield's 63 and Ellyse Perry's 50 despite Deepti Sharma's five-wicket haul.

In reply, Richa Ghosh scored a valiant 96 but the Australians tightened the screws to limit India to 255/8. Annabel Sutherland (3/47) snared three wickets including that of Richa.

Earlier, Off-spinner Deepti Sharma stymied Australia's surge with a stellar five-wicket haul but seven dropped catches by India allowed them to post a challenging victory target.

Deepti exploited a dry and turning surface to a fine degree to return with figures off five for 38, but her hard work was undone by the hosts' horrendous fielding. She accounted for Ellyse Perry (50), Beth Mooney (10), Tahlia McGrath (24), Georgia Wareham (22) and Annabel Sutherland (23) for her career's second five-for.

Alana King, who was dropped once each by Deepti and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, hammered three sixes to make an unbeaten 28 (17 balls) in a late surge to take Australia past the 250-run mark, which at one stage looked beyond the visitors.

Australia looked in complete command until the 22nd over, powering to 117 for one through a 77-run stand for the second wicket between Perry and Phoebe Litchfield (63, 98 balls, 6x4s). But fortune swung in India's favour when Deepti was introduced, and the senior spinner made an immediate impact. Perry (50, 47 balls, 4x4s, 1x6s) raced to her second fifty in a row and posed India a serious threat during a strong partnership with Litchfield, but Deepti got rid of the former to start her demolition job. In an attempt to pull a short delivery from Deepti over midwicket, Perry could not clear debutant Shreyanka Patil who completed the catch on her second attempt.

Brief scores:

Australia: 258/8 in 50 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 63, Ellyse Perry 50; Deepti Sharma 5/38) beat India 255 for 8 in 50 overs ( Richa Ghosh 96, Jemimah Rodrigues 44; Annabel Sutherland 3/47) by 3 runs.