Aussies to make late call on Schutt for third ODI

Australia will make a late call on Megan Schutt's availability for Tuesday's third and final ODI against India in Mumbai, as Alyssa Healy's team targets a series whitewash.

Schutt sat out Saturday's second one-dayer with a minor quad complaint, but the veteran pace bowler underwent a fitness test at Monday's training session and a final decision will be made on Tuesday morning. 

If Schutt does return, it could mean an unlucky omission for her replacement Kim Garth, who impressed on Saturday with 1-24 from her six overs. 

Meanwhile, India spinner Sneh Rana appears set to be available for the match despite being taken to hospital for scans after she collided heavily clash with teammate Pooja Vastrakar in a fielding mishap.

Rana was subbed out of the game after complaining of a headache following the incident, but trained with the Indian team on Monday afternoon.

Australia took an unassailable 2-0 lead with their thrilling three-run win in the second ODI.

After ringing in the new year together on Sunday night, the Australian squad now hopes to begin 2024 on a winning note.

"We're pretty keen to win this last game of the series, so we'll be putting our best team out there and looking to go three-nil in the series to lead into the T20s with some momentum," allrounder Annabel Sutherland said on Monday.

After Australia's batters cantered to a challenging target of 283 in the series opener, they were made to scrap hard batting first in the second game, with a late flurry from No.10 Alana King helping them to 8-258, a total that proved just enough.

Sutherland said the batting group had learned from the experience and expect to face similar conditions in the series finale.

"I thought that the second ODI was a little bit more challenging batting conditions than the first one, so we're probably expecting a similar sort of batting deck that might be a bit challenging," she said.

"I know that the batters are pretty keen to work on a few things from the previous game and hopefully put a good total on the board or chase something down – I think we can probably make a few inroads there."

The Australian squad spent New Year's Eve with assorted friends and family on Sunday night.

It was another unusual experience for the group who rarely find themselves on tour at this time of year – let alone overseas – but Sutherland said it had been a nice opportunity to quietly toast a 12-month period that delivered their third consecutive T20 World Cup and an Ashes retention away from home. 

"It was nice just to reflect on the year that we've had, the ups and the downs and success in there as well," she said. 

"It was cool to be able to spend it together, it's the first time I've had New Year's with the group."

The third ODI will be the last game of the tour played at Wankhede Stadium, which also hosted the one-off Test and the first two 50-over games.

Australia and India will then move east to Navi Mumbai for the three-game T20I series.

Australia's CommBank Tour of India

Test match: India won by eight wickets

First ODI: Australia won by six wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by three runs

January 2: Third ODI, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

January 5: First T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 7: Second T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 9: Third T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Lauren Cheatle (Test only), Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20s only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Harleen Deol, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar