By News18

Copyright news18

The Indian women’s team faces off against Australia in a must-win clash of the ongoing three-match ODI series on Wednesday, September 17. Harmanpreet Kaur’s rising young brigade strives for a win against Australia to avenge their disappointing defeat in the opening encounter and level the series 1-1 in Mullanpur.
After a highly successful tour of England earlier this year, the Indian team faced a harsh reminder of the gap that persists between them and the mighty Australian juggernaut.
Despite posting a huge score of 281/7 in their 50 overs, the hosts failed to put the dominant Aussie batting line-up under any pressure and suffered a painstaking eight-wicket defeat.
A trio of impressive half-centuries from Pratika Rawal (64), Smriti Mandhana (58) and No.3 Harleen Deol (54) laid the foundation to India’s total. However, the bowling attack failed to stand up to the task as a fantastic innings from Phoebe Litchfield (88) gave the Australians a strong early footing in the chase before unbeaten knocks from Beth Mooney (77*) and Annabel Sutherland (54*) took them over the line with the best part of six overs remaining.
India will need a more inspired bowling and fielding performance from their troops to curtail the wings of the power-packed Australian batting line-up in a game they must win to stay alive in the series.
India vs Australia 2nd Women’s ODI – Live Streaming and TV Details
The second women’s ODI between hosts India and Australia will be televised live in India on Star Sports Network. It will be available for livestreaming on the JioHotstar app as well. The match starts at 1:30 PM IST.
India vs Australia 2nd Women’s ODI – Pitch Report
The first ODI of the three-match series played at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur was also the venue’s maiden contest at the international stage.
The ground curator came up with a firm surface that played extensively true and offered consistent bounce for batters from either side to play their strokes freely.
It meant a tough day on the field for pacers and seamers from both teams. The conditions exposed India’s heavy dependence on their spinners, but the experienced pair of Sneh Rana (1/51) and Deepti Sharma (0/59) were significantly neutralised.
Harmanpreet’s team will be hoping that the strip in Mullanpur dries out quickly in the September heat and gives their spinners the grip and turn they desperately need.