Aussies hail the efforts of Smriti Mandhana and the India attack, as they reflect on what went wrong in a humbling second ODI loss
Australia look for lessons in historic defeat with Cup looming
Australia will look at Wednesday's historic defeat as a chance to learn crucial lessons, rather than calling panic stations with their ODI World Cup defence looming just weeks away.
Their 102-run loss to India in the second one-dayer in New Chandigarh was their heaviest by runs, and a 52-year low with their previous largest loss a 92-run defeat to England in the inaugural World Cup in 1973.
India's victory was set up by a masterclass from Smriti Mandhana, whose 12th ODI century was the sole 40-plus score in India's first-innings total of 292 all out.
But it was the bowling where the hosts made the biggest improvements from their disappointing display in the series opener, with new-ball quicks Renuka Thakur and Kranti Gout piling the pressure on the Australians from ball one, and ultimately bowling them out for 190.
Skipper Alyssa Healy, who won the toss and elected to put the home side in to bat in hot and humid conditions – with an eye to helping her team acclimatise ahead of the World Cup – said she had no regrets about that call.
"I mean, it's good preparation for the World Cup, isn't it?" Healy said.
"You don't get to choose every time.
"So no regrets, not really. I just thought India were pretty good today in all facets of the game, and we probably got outplayed a little bit.
"I think they bowled really, really well with the new ball, and we probably just didn't quite get off to the start that we wanted to.
"But it's great learning for us heading forward … it's good to have these opportunities, heading into do-or-die World Cup matches."
Wednesday's game was a timely jolt for Australia, who had gone undefeated in 13 completed ODIs since their previous loss in the format to South Africa in February 2024.
Reflecting on Australia's batting innings on Wednesday, where the tourists were asked to pull off their highest ODI chase but struggled to form large partnerships with Annabel Sutherland's 45 and Ellyse Perry's 44 their most significant contributions, the latter said there were plenty of lessons to be learned.
"From a bowling perspective maybe we were a little bit off today, we gave a few too may loose balls throughout the innings," Perry said.
"With a chase like that, it just rams home how important partnerships are in big chases, equally batting first.
"We came over here with the expectations of it being a huge challenge, not just playing India, but throughout the whole World Cup.
"So these games are invaluable in terms of practice and getting ourselves ready for the matches to come as well."
The series moves to New Delhi for a deciding third and final ODI on Saturday.
It is not yet clear whether opener Phoebe Litchfield will be fit to play after she missed Wednesday's game with a low-grade quad strain, while Kim Garth is also likely to return after she was rotated out of the XI to provide an opportunity to Darcie Brown.
"We're all really looking forward to Delhi now," Perry said.
"It's still a series that's important to us, and we want to play well and be successful in, so it makes that game a really great way to finish the series."
Qantas ODI tour of India 2025
September 14: First ODI: Australia won by eight wickets
September 17: Second ODI: India won by 102 runs
September 20: Third ODI, Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, 6pm AEST
India squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kranti Gaud, Amanjot Kaur, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Sneh Rana
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
2025 Women's ODI World Cup
Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham
Australia's warm-up match
September 28: v England, Bengaluru, Bengaluru, 7:30pm AEST
Australia's group stage matches
October 1: v New Zealand, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 7:30pm AEST
October 4: v Sri Lanka, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 7:30pm AEST
October 8: v Pakistan, R. Premadasa Stadium, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 8:30pm AEDT
October 12: v India, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT
October 16: v Bangladesh, ACA-VDCA Stadium Visakhapatnam, 8:30pm AEDT
October 22: v England, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
October 25: v South Africa, Holkar Stadium, Indore, 8:30pm AEDT
Finals
Semi-final 1: Guwahati or Colombo*, October 29, 8:30pm AEDT
Semi-final 2: Mumbai, October 30, 8:30pm AEDT
Final: Mumbai or Colombo*, November 2, 8:30pm AEDT
All World Cup matches to be broadcast exclusively live and free on Amazon's Prime Video. A free trial is available here.