After registering a thrilling two-wicket victory over Australia in the third and final ODI, India skipper Mithali Raj on Sunday said that she told her side to give an A-grade performance and not think about the past.
Yastika Bhatia and Shafali Verma played knocks of 64 and 56 respectively as India defeated Australia by two wickets in the third and final ODI here at Harrup Park. With this defeat, Australia’s unbeaten 26-match run in ODI cricket came to an end. However, the hosts won the three-match ODI series by 2-1.
“We are just happy that we have won the last game, just told the girls that we need to put up an A-grade performance, so happy with the victory. It’s good to have a little bit of depth in the batting order, we tried the combinations with all-rounders and it worked. Pooja got runs and crucial wickets, Shafali was good and Sneh Rana did really well,” Mithali said after the game.
“It was important to bounce back from the second match, that loss hurt us, it was good to chase, we are good in that, but I think the last game gave us confidence going into today’s encounter,” she added.
Jhulan Goswami was adjudged as Player of the Match after her three-wicket haul and crucial eight runs in the end, which took India over the line. India needed 4 runs from the final over to register a win and Jhulan Goswami (8*) showed her experience to finally take the visitors over the line.
“We were just trying to win the game, try to stay there and finish the game. We lost the last match by a narrow margin, but today was a new day, I wanted to keep the ball in the right area and if I did that, I knew I could get breakthroughs. That was what I did. It’s important to give your best in the field, take positives and that’s what I want to do as a senior. Lots of aches in my body, need time to recover, but we’re looking forward to be a part of the pink-ball Test,” said Jhulan.
Earlier, Ashleigh Gardner and Beth Mooney played knocks of 67 and 52 respectively as Australia posted a total of 264/9. Both India and Australia will now lock horns in the pink-ball Test, beginning Thursday.
