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2nd over: India 5-0 (Punia 1, Smriti 4) Immediate swing for Kim Garth. My oh my, that hooped a long distance away from Punia. Second ball jags back inside. Intriguing! Garth is in form with 11 wickets from her last five ODIs and she beats Punia with her third and fourth balls. Punia has driven at both but misjudged the line. Now the Indian opener reads it better, stepping out and smacking it, albeit it straight to the fielder. A maiden.
1st over: India 5-0 (Punia 1, Smriti 4) This is India’s fourth opening combination this year and a chance for Priya Punia and Smriti Mandhana to cement their spot at the top of the order. Megan Schutt will have something to say about that. The Australian fast-bowling champion has the new ball. Her loosener is tapped away for a single from Punia. Three dot balls… then BANG! Smriti unfurls a gorgeous cut shot and it races across this lightning fast field for a boundary. Wonderful shot!
Joseph Ruska has welcomed us to Country today and anthems have been sung with gusto. This venue played host to the T20 Harmony Shield between the Queensland Men’s Indigenous side and the Queensland Multicultural XI in February this year so it holds an important place in Indigenous cricket circles.
That early cloud has cleared and we are under hot and sunny skies today at Allan Border Field. Play is about to commence so buckle ‘em up and batten ‘em down!
India has also revealed a new-look squad for today’s match.
Shafali Verma has been axed after a lean run of 97 runs in four innings with a high score of 43 at the T20 World Cup in October. Her form didn’t improve in the one-dayers against New Zealand afterward, with scores of 33, 11 and 12 condemning her to the sidelines.
Wicketkeeper-batter Yastika Bhatia has been ruled out after she fractured her wrist playing for the Melbourne Stars in the WBBL. Richa Ghosh will take the gloves today, back in the squad after missing the series against the White Ferns due to university exams.
Dayalan Hemalatha didn’t do enough for the Perth Scorchers to earn a spot in the squad so young stars Harleen Deol, Titas Sadhu and Minnu Mani will get their chance.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur spoke with the media on Wednesday:
“It’s always a great feeling whenever we play in Australia. It’s a very important series for us … whenever we play, we always look to win. Our team is doing well in ODIs and we just want to continue the same momentum.”
Interesting that Sophie Molineux and Darcie Brown have been left on ice this afternoon for Australia. Both have had Big Bash seasons interrupted by injury but will rest today and will have huge roles to play for the six upcoming matches.
Molineux missed four straight Renegades matches due to knee soreness but returned against Hobart Hurricanes on Thursday night. Brown missed the Strikers’ past three matches due to a hip muscle strain but has resumed training.
Australia women’s team physiotherapist, Kate Beerworth said:
Sophie has returned to play following knee soreness which will continue to be managed over the course of the summer. Darcie has resumed training following a hip muscle strain and is on track for both series.
Exciting teams to contest this first of three ODIs!
For Australia, 21-year-old Georgia Voll has been handed her cap as a debutant. She will open the batting alongside Phoebe Litchfield and arrives on the world stage in great form. The powerful right-hander hit two scores in the 90s in the WBBL and finished fifth overall in the runs charts with 330 at a strike rate of 144.73.
India have made a few changes to the XI that played against New Zealand – Priya Punia opens with Mandhana and Harleen Deol has been named at No 3. Arundhati Reddy and Radha Yadav have missed out and young legspinner Priya Mishra gets her chance after impressing in India A’s tour of Australia in August.
India have a debutant today too: fast bowler Titas Sadhu.
India have won the toss and elected to bat
Final line-ups for today’s game have been announced…
AUSTRALIA: Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath (c), Georgia Wareham, Alana King, Kim Garth, Megan Schutt
INDIA: Smriti Mandhana, Priya Punia, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Titas Sadhu, Priya Mishra, Saima Thakor, Renuka Singh Thakur
Preamble
Angus Fontaine
Greetings cricket fans! Welcome to the Guardian’s over-by-over coverage of the first one-day international between Australia and India at Allan Border Field in Brisbane. Angus Fontaine here with you for the first innings with Martin Pegan taking you home in the night session.
This three-game series is Australia’s first in the 50-over format since their tour of Bangladesh in March, and it lights the fuse on a busy run of six one-dayers in 19 days across two countries.
After this match and the sequel on Sunday, Australia travel to Perth for the third clash, then fly to Wellington for a three-game series against New Zealand before racing Santa Claus across the southern hemisphere skies to get home on Christmas Eve.
For Australia and India today’s game also marks the first steps of a higher quest. This series forms the first leg of the ICC Women’s ODI Championship, the quadrennial round-robin tournament between the world’s best 10 teams.
Australia currently sit atop the Championship table on 28 points, ahead of England on net run rate and with three games in hand. But India could yet leapfrog both. They sit in third spot on 25 points and have nine games left to play, three more than Australia.
All Championship matches will be played by the end of January so we have a frenzy of women’s cricket ahead in the next couple of months.
Will Australia get their 2025 World Cup defence off to the best possible start and regain the air of indomitability lost with their shock defeat in the T20 World Cup in October? Or will India strike an early blow in their dream to win the ODI World Cup on home soil?
We’ll find out shortly when play starts at 2.20pm AEST in Brisbane / 3.20pm AEDT.
