New Delhi: Smriti Mandhana lit up the third ODI against Australia with a breathtaking 63-ball 125, including a 50-ball hundred – the second-fastest in women’s ODI history. Her innings gave India a fighting chance while chasing Australia’s joint-highest ODI total of 412. Despite strong half-centuries from captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Deepti Sharma, India fell short, bowled out for 369, conceding the series 2-1.
Mandhana, who finished as the series’ highest run-getter with 300 runs, including two centuries, dismissed the notion that India’s batting is overly reliant on her. “Everyone in the Indian side is a match-winner… I have a huge belief in the whole team, that from any point we can still win the match,” she said after the game.
Pointing to fielding as a key concern, Mandhana admitted India dropped as many as 15 catches across the three ODIs, highlighting the gap between India and Australia in consistency on the field. “Fielding as a unit is something we have to address before the World Cup,” she added, while noting that testing themselves against Australia provided vital insights.
Despite the series loss, Mandhana praised the “willingness” of India’s younger players to learn and grow, which she said would be crucial for the upcoming World Cup. “This series is just for us to understand what’s going right and what’s going wrong because Australia is the best opposition to test it out against,” she said. “It’s a young team but the will level is very high”
