The first of the Indian innings occurred in the tenth over. On 3 out of 5, Alyssa Healy awaited Harmanpreet Kaur’s gaze upwards prior to initiating the field adjustments. Ellyse Perry was repositioned to deep backward square leg on her right side. Deep midwicket was where Ashleigh Gardner was forced back from the arena. Harmanpreet had just been presented with two dot balls; she defended the off side of the second one, which was nudged towards the backward point after being delivered on a shortish length.
Annabel Sutherland subsequently delivered a complete ball from the fourth-base line out. Early in anticipation of another short-length ball, Harmanpreet reversed direction and crossed the pitch, ultimately striking it onto her stumps. This earned her her sixth tally in the single digits across all formats during the series against Australia.
After that, in the seventeenth over of Australia’s pursuit, came the second moment. Following a double-strike delivered by Pooja Vastrakar, Phoebe Litchfield was scheduled to bowl Shreyanka Patil for a mere fourth delivery. Cover-point third, backward square leg, midwicket, and cover-point third were the four fielders India had on the boundary, all of whom were perturbed by her ability to strike behind the wickets. Litchfield slid down quickly, lofted one over mid-off, and then again found the space between mid-off and cover. Australia ultimately reached their target of 148 runs with eight balls remaining unused.
Following Australia’s 2-1 triumph over India in the T20I series, captain Healy heaped praise on Litchfield, who amassed 344 runs at an average of 86 off white balls during the white-ball phase.
India coach Amol Muzumdar maintains that despite a comprehensive loss in the ODI and T20I series, the squad still has a “happy dressing room.”
Tuesday at the DY Patil Stadium, two moments encapsulated the women’s white-ball series between Australia and India.
“I was joking sitting on the bench that I remember when I was that fearless when you come out and you have lost two wickets in an over and play a ramp over the keeper for four,” Healy said. “Unbelievable talent but at the same time she has got a good head on her shoulders and has fitted in beautifully in our squad and will play a key role for us in the Bangladesh [T20] World Cup [2024] and the ODI World Cup [2025] in these conditions in the next 18 months. She is great to watch and hopefully she is going to have a long and successful career for Australia.”
Healy further endorsed Harmanpreet after India head coach Amol Muzumdar dismissed apprehensions regarding the captain’s performance, stating that “every cricketer experiences a slump in form.”
Harmanpreet opened the T20Is against England with 26 runs off 21 balls before scoring in the single digits twice, including six in the third T20I victory which was unblemished. She then scored 49 and 44 not out in the one-off Test against the same opposition, before each of her outings with the bat against Australia resulted in a return to single digits.
“She got out playing the sweep shot quite a lot, which she traditionally plays quite well,” Healy said. “It might be down to some form. She has had probably had two hard series on the trot and this series has been a long one. [We had] no specific plans in place, but we know we need to be switched on when she walks out to the crease and our bowlers did a great job at keeping her quiet.”
Healy and Harmanpreet had divergent approaches to the series, and during her inaugural tour as full-time captain, Healy made reference to their dissimilar dispositions.
