India vs Australia 2nd Women's ODI: The Aussies beat India by 3 runs to seal the 3-match series

Annabel Sutherland defended the 16 runs quite comfortably in the last over to help the Aussies win the match by 3 runs and seal the India vs Australia 3-match ODI series 2-0. She claimed three crucial wickets which hurt India in the chase. Meanwhile, the efforts of Richa Ghosh and Deepti Sharma went in vain as India failed to hold on to the nerves and lost the match. It was India's match till the 45th over but Australia showed why they are the world's best and delivered a mature and clinical performance in the death overs.

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Opting to bat, the visitors managed to post 258/8 depending on opener Phoebe Litchfield's 63 and Ellyse Perry's 50 despite Deepti Sharma grabbed a five-wicket haul. The off-spinner became the first Indian to pick a fifer against Australia.

A total of 11 catches were dropped in the match. India put down seven and to return the favor a bit, Australia dropped four. But Phoebe Litchfield took a sensational catch for the visitors when it mattered most. She ended a crucial 88-run stand when India needed another 100 with 17 overs and eight wickets remaining. Her effort sent Jemimah Rodrigues back to the dressing room for 44.

Richa Ghosh scored 96 runs but missed out on her century and it also cost India the match. Annabel Sutherland (3/47) picked three wickets including that of Richa. India had a chance until as late as 47 overs into their chase, after which they were only 22 away. But Annabel held her nerve to concede just three singles and also remove Pooja Vastrakar. India never got back on track after that and eventually lost the game and the series. The Indian Women's Team are yet to beat Australia in a bilateral ODI series.

The Indian Captain Harmanpreet Kaur said after the match, "We bowled really well. We knew we had to keep looking for wickets. Lots of positives. I know they took the game away. I'm proud of the team, the way we played. We needed a bit more awareness late in the chase. Richa played really well, Jemimah helped her in the middle. We know Australia have a long batting line-up. Stopping them under 300 was a positive. We knew we could've chased it but didn't show enough awareness in the middle overs. Dropped catches are part of the game. We are playing under a lot of heat and back to back, it's part of the game. It's always important how we bounce back. We keep letting the bowlers know they're doing a great job and that we're trying our best to support them."

Alyssa Healy, the Australia captain said, "I need a defib, got very close in the end. Credit to our girls for finding ways to win in a tough situation. We felt a bit short with our score. Took some momentum with Alana's hitting. We lost many wickets late but took wickets and defended it. We hang in there, something about Australian teams. We fight till the last ball. We still believed we could win till the last ball, which made us successful. Things didn't go our way. We dropped catches and let ourselves down there but our energy has been unbelievable. People probably forget we've seen a lot of changes in the last 12-18 months, yet we keep producing players who are ready for international cricket. They're learning as they go out there but are still contributing. So, a credit to our domestic system and the team culture."