Phoebe Litchfield has rewritten a stack of records during a stunning second ODI hundred from the 20-year-old from Orange
Litchfield rewrites record books with stunning hundred
Phoebe Litchfield has struck her second one-day international century to put Australia into a strong position in the third and final ODI against India in Mumbai.
Litchfield came into the series finale off scores of 78 and 63 in the first two matches but went even bigger third time around, bringing up triple figures from 109 deliveries.
It continued what has been a breakout first year of ODI cricket for the 20-year-old from Orange, who hit back-to-back fifties against Pakistan on debut last January, then scored her first one-day hundred against Ireland in July.
Litchfield looked immediately at home at Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday after the Australians opted to bat first.
She brought up a third consecutive fifty off 50 deliveries, and shared a record-breaking 189-run opening stand with captain Alyssa Healy – who broke her own streak of low scores with 82 off 85 balls.
Litchfield held her nerve as four wickets fell at the other end while she was in the nineties, and celebrated her century in typically modest fashion, briefly removing her helmet and gesturing towards the Australian dugout.
Her 125-ball innings finally came to an end on 119 as she looked to hit the accelerator but holed out to the bowling of Deepti Sharma.
The left-hander had statisticians reaching for the record books throughout her innings.
Litchfield finished the ODI series with 260 runs at 86.66, as she became the first woman to hit three 50-plus scores in a three-game ODI series both against and in India.
No woman has scored more runs in a three-game ODI series in India, with Litchfield breaking the previous record of 195 jointly held by Harmanpreet Kaur (2013) and Nicole Bolton (2018).
Litchfield also set a new high-water mark for most runs by an Australian woman in a three-game ODI series, eclipsing Meg Lanning’s 246 against New Zealand in 2016.
Litchfield is the second Australian woman to hit a one-day ton at Wankhede, following Lanning, who hit a ton at the iconic Mumbai ground during the 2013 World Cup.
She is just the seventh visiting woman to hit a one-day hundred in India.
She had already scored more ODI runs in a calendar year before her 21st birthday than any other Australian woman, with her 485 runs in 2023 bettering Lanning’s previous mark by a single run.
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