Healy, Aussies wary of Indian riposte

Alyssa Healy has vowed Australia won’t be caught relaxing despite their crushing win over India in the opening ODI of the Commonwealth Bank Tour of India.

Australia cruised to an eight-wicket win inside 33 overs on Monday, an emphatic result against the team that knocked them out of the World Cup finals last year.

India were without their two greatest players for that opening match, with captain and leading run scorer Mithali Raj sidelined through illness and leading wicket taker Jhulan Goswami out with a feel injury.

There’ll be no return for Goswami in the series, but the hosts are sweating on the health of Raj ahead of Thursday’s second ODI, to be played at the same venue in Vadodara.

“We’ve seen what they can do, especially at the World Cup when Harmanpreet Kaur let loose on us,” Healy said.

“We’re aware of what they can do and the way they play game, so we’ve got to be on our toes and put the appropriate plans in place to limit the impact those key players have and get another win.”

India lost 5-49 after making a positive start on Monday and were at one point 7-113 before a defiant 76-run eighth-wicket stand lifted to them 200.

None of their star batters – including Rebel Big Bash trio Kaur, Smriti Mandhana and Veda Krishnamurthy – were able to fire, with the absence of Raj’s stabilising influence and ability to dig in under pressure felt keenly by the hosts.

“She’s a world-class player and has proven that over a very long time,” Healy said.

“So it was disappointing for them that she wasn’t there yesterday. If she comes back into the squad for the next game, we’ll put our plans in place to hopefully limit the impact she has.

“She’s a key run scorer for them with some really exciting talent around her, so hopefully we can limit her damage.”

Despite Monday’s result, Healy says the Australians aren’t completely satisfied with their own performance and will be working to produce an even stronger all-round display come Thursday.

“There’s always stuff we can work on, we probably weren’t happy with our fielding at times on Monday, it was a bit sloppy,” she said.

“That’s something we’ve spoken about in the last 12 months and we won’t get much better surfaces than this one to field on.

“Hopefully we can sharpen up there and that will go towards us hopefully having another great win.”

A small group of Australian players took part in an optional training session on Tuesday following a visit to a local women’s support centre organised through the Cricket Cares program, with the squad to hit the training track again on Wednesday ahead of the second ODI.

Cricket.com.au will provide news, scores, highlights and behind-the-scenes coverage from on the ground in India, while Fox Sports will broadcast all the ODIs and the T20I tri-series that will follow live. 

Commonwealth Bank Tour of India

Australia ODI squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Nicole Bolton, Nicola Carey, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

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 ODI squad: Mithali Raj (Captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Veda Krishnamurthy, Mona Meshram, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Shikha Pandey, Sukanya Parida, Pooja Vastrakar, Deepti Sharma

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 Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 15

Third ODI Reliance Stadium, Vadodara, March 18

T20I tri-series

First T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 22

Second T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 23

Third T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 25

Fourth T20I Australia v India, Brabourne Stadium, March 26

Fifth T20I Australia v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 28

Sixth T20I India v England, Brabourne Stadium, March 29

Final Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, March 31