Australia nail targets in whitewash hunt

Australia ticked off not one, not two, but four major goals on Sunday when they completed a whitewash series win over India.

Their 97-run victory in Vadodara had no shortage of highlights and was the perfect finish to a series that had already seen them claim eight-wicket and 60-run victories over an Indian team on the rise.

First, they posted a total above 300. It's a mark Australia believe they should be hitting more often than not – conditions permitting, of course – given their star-studded batting line-up.

It's also a mark Australia had only passed four times, ever, before Sunday's game. Their 7-332 was their first 300-plus score since 2012, while it was also their third-highest ODI total ever.

And perhaps the most significant sign of the progress made by the team since their World Cup semi-final defeat last July was in who did – and who didn't – contribute the bulk of the runs.

Alyssa Healy scored her maiden one-day century. Rachael Haynes hammered a quick-fire 43 from 39.

Ashleigh Gardner (35 off 20), Beth Mooney (34no off 19) and Nicola Carey (17 from 15) all made key cameos.

Here was a mammoth team total, and it came without major contributions from the team's two best batters: Meg Lanning, who struck four boundaries but fell for 18, and Ellyse Perry, who shared an important 79-run stand with Healy, but who never quite got going in her 32 off 60.

"Yeah it's big," Healy said of finally breaching the 300-barrier. "It's a goal for us to consistently hit that mark and we did it quite comfortably in the end today.

"We've just got so much power right down our batting order, it's exciting.

"It's probably for us at the top order to just set up the game and let them do their thing at the bottom."

Secondly, Australia finished off the series as they started.

This was a goal the ODI squad dearly wanted to tick off after failing to do so twice during the Ashes late last year.

Then, they won the first two ODIs against England only to drop the third, and while they earned enough points in the multi-format series to retain the Ashes with two T20Is remaining, they lost the final two games to see the series end eight-all.

"It's really pleasing and a three-nil result in this series is something we've spoken about a lot," Healy said.

"It was something we really wanted to clinch, something that's evaded us over the last 12 months.

"We're really pleased with everyone's efforts."

Thirdly, they regained top spot in the ICC's one-day rankings, moving one point ahead of England – the team they surrendered top spot to last November when they lost the T20I leg of the multi-format Ashes.

Prior to the start of the series, coach Matthew Mott described the ranking as an extra "carrot" for the team, and while Healy reiterated that winning three-nil was the major goal, she admitted the team would enjoy knowing they'd again leapfrogged their Ashes rivals.

"We probably didn't think about that at all to be honest, that three-nil win was at the forefront of our minds," Healy said. "But for us to sit here in hindsight and say we've regained that No.1 ranking is pretty special and the girls will no doubt enjoy that tonight."

And finally, some revenge. Healy had to admit that the emphatic result was made that little bit sweeter given India had knocked Australia out of the World Cup semi-finals last July, courtesy of a Harmanpreet Kaur blitzkrieg that left the Southern Stars stunned.

"There's a little bit of revenge there, I won't lie," Healy laughed. "It's sweet to come out and beat them three-nil.

"They've got a really exciting group, talented group of players and they showed that in the World Cup in doing so well, unfortunately they couldn't get over the line in the end but they pulled our pants down in the semi-final.

"So for us to come out and play the way we did and play aggressively and put it back on them, the group is really proud of that.

"To get a three-nil win is really special and we'll keep working towards the T20 series and hopefully get a couple more wins."

Australia will now return to Mumbai for the T20I tri-series against England and India, beginning at Brabourne Stadium on Thursday.

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia T20 squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Delissa Kimmince, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain), Smriti Mandhana (vice-captain), Mithali Raj, Veda Krishnamurthy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Poonam Yadav, Ekta Bisht, Jhulan Goswami, Shikha Pandey, Pooja Vastrakar, Rumeli Dhar, Mona Meshram.

England T20I squad: Heather Knight (c), Tammy Beaumont, Kate Cross, Alice Davidson-Richards, Sophie Ecclestone, Tash Farrant, Katie George, Jenny Gunn, Alex Hartley, Danielle Hazell, Amy Jones, Anya Shrubsole, Bryony Smith, Nat Sciver, Fran Wilson, Danni Wyatt

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by 321 runs. Report

Warm-up match Australia beat India A by seven wickets. Report

ODI series

First ODI Australia won by eight wickets. Scorecard

Second ODI Australia won by 60 runs. Scorecard

Third ODI Australia won by 97 runs. Scorecard

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22. Live Coverage

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23. Live Coverage

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25. Live Coverage

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26. Live Coverage

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28. Live Coverage

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29. Live Coverage

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31. Live Coverage