Visakhapatnam, Oct 12 (IANS) Smriti Mandhana and Pratika Rawal struck superb fifties and raised the highest-ever opening partnership against Australia in the Women’s World Cup, as India posted 330 all out at the Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam, on Sunday.

India’s 330/10 is the biggest total ever scored against seven-time champions Australia in World Cups, surpassing the 298 by England.

The two openers came good at the right time as India were putting their campaign back on rails after the defeat to South Africa. They cut, drove, and thrashed anything short, laying the foundation for a big score.

Mandhana, who has managed only 54 runs in the first three matches of the ongoing Women’s World Cup and has faced questions about whether she has gone off the boil after a sensational season so far, hammered a 66-ball 80 (9×4, 3×6), while Rawal compiled a 96-ball 75 (10×4, 1×6) as they shared a 155-run partnerships for the opening wicket. This is the highest opening partnership by any team against Australia in World Cups.

In scoring her first fifty of the 2025 World Cup, her 33rd overall, Mandhana also became the fastest and youngest player to reach 5000 runs in women’s ODIs, crossing the milestone in 112 matches to break the record of Stafanie Taylor (WI), who reached 5,000 runs in 129 matches. She reached the mark with a six off Kim Garth in the 21st over. She now has 5,022 runs, which includes 13 hundreds.

Alyssa Healy’s decision to bowl first backfired as Mandhana and Rawal made merry, starting cautiously before executing an array of shots. The Australian bowlers, seven of whom were pressed into action, also helped by bowling fast and short, gave Mandhana and Rawal a chance to get set. The Indian batters were lucky at times as catches either fell just short of the fielders or out of reach, making the most of their opportunities.

However, the Aussies salvaged things a bit, thanks to a fifer by Annabel Sutherland (5-40), and what looked like a 400-run course was restricted to 330.

But things looked very difficult for Australia at one time as Mandhana and Rawal were going strong.

Mandhana completed her fifty off 46 balls, hitting some exquisite shots, including back-to-back fours off Sophie Molineux, who was brought in to exploit India’s weakness against left-arm spin bowling, in the eighth over, a cheeky lap-shot off Ashleigh Gardner in the 14th. She switched gears after her fifty and blasted a six over extra cover off Kim Garth and flayed Tahlia McGrath over the boundary in the 24th over.

Just when she was looking good for her third century against the Aussies in a month, the 29-year-old left-hander departed, caught by Phoebe Litchfield at deep midwicket off Molineux, after scoring her runs at a strike rate of 121.21.

Rawal led the scoring initially before Mandhana overtook her, racing to her maiden World Cup half-century in 69 balls, hitting some top-shots, including a fine short-arm jab for four off Annabel Sutherland and a superb straight drive down the ground off Gardner for a six in the ninth over. She was out trying to force the pace of scoring, caught by Ellyse Perry off Sutherland.

Australia pulled things back a bit, sending back Harleen Deol (38 off 42) and Harmanpreet Kaur (22 off 17) in quick succession. But Jamimah Rodrigues (33 from 21 balls, 5×4) and Richa Ghosh (32 in 22, 3×4, 2×6) raised 54 runs for the fifth wicket partnership as they added some quick runs.

But the Indians failed to capitalise on the sound platform in the last 10 overs. They looked on course for 400 at one time, but failed to reach 350 as the Australians made a fine comeback. The defending champions had conceded 192/1 in the first 30 overs but claimed 138/9 in the next 20.

Brief scores: India 330 all out in 48.5 overs (Smriti Mandhana 80, Pratika Rawal 75, Jemimah Rodrigues 33, Richa Ghosh 32; Annabel Sutherland 5-40, Sophie Molineux 3-75) against Australia.

–IANS

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