Navi Mumbai, Oct 30 (IANS) Phoebe Litchfield raced to a majestic hundred while Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner scored half-centuries as Australia put on a brilliant display of power hitting before they were all out for 338 against India in the second semifinal of the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup here on Thursday.

Opener Litchfield hammered 119 off 93 balls, Perry scored 77 off 88 balls, while Gardner blasted 63 off 45 balls as Australia made the most of batting first on a helpful wicket.

The Indians failed to capitalise on the overcast conditions early in the afternoon. Kranti Gaud made the breakthrough but was wayward; Renuka was steady, but the spinners failed to tie down the batters. However, the hosts pulled things back a bit with off-spinner Deepti Sharma claiming two wickets in two balls in the 50th over.

Australia suffered an early setback as skipper Alyssa Healy struggled to hit the straps coming into the side after missing two matches due to a wrist problem. She pottered around for 15 balls before getting out, chopping on a delivery from Kranti. It was a big relief for the Indians as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur dropped a couple of overs earlier, putting down a sitter running behind the bowler from mid-off. Healy was their tormentor-in-chief when the two sides met in the Group stage, feasting on the Indian bowling to hammer a majestic 142 off 107 balls.

Though India got the prized scalp of Healy early, Australia cruised to 72/1 in the Powerplay as Ellyse Perry and Phoebe Litchfield laid the foundation for a big partnership for the second wicket.

Perry was saved by the DRS early in her knock and went on to hit Kranti Gaud for three fours, two of them off successive balls, back-to-back fours in the 10th over. Litchfield helped herself to a couple of boundaries off Kranti, who was quite wayward in her first spell of five overs and conceded 49 runs. She struck Deepti Sharma for a four and six in consecutive overs and went after Gaud, hitting her for three fours in the 10th over.

The Australians were cruising, bruising and squeezing the Indians out of the match, scoring at a brisk pace against an ineffective bowling attack. Litchfield and Perry reached 100 runs in their partnership off just 85 balls.

Litchfield, who had her heart in her mouth being given out for a catch by Amanjot off Shree Charani that was ruled as bump ball by the TV umpire, struck three fours in an over off Radha Yadav and went down the track to hammer Charani over the long-off boundary for a six. She kept slicing, cutting, driving and reversing with ease as she raced towards her century.

The 22-year-old left-handed opener hammered Deepti Sharma for sixes off successive balls — first straight down the ground, followed by a brilliant switch hit. She fell for 119, moving across to hit Amanjot Kaur and getting castled instead. Litchfield struck 17 boundaries and three sixes in the 93 balls she faced, adding 155 runs for the second wicket partnership with Perry.

Perry continued to drop the anchor as she added 40 runs for the third wicket with Beth Mooney (24, 22b, 3×4). The defending champions lost their way a bit as three wickets fell for 23 runs. Mooney chipped to Jemimah Ridrigues in covers off Charani, Perry was cleaned up by Radha Yadav for 77 off 88 balls, studded with six boundaries and two sixes, while Annabel Sutherland was caught by Charani off her own bowling for three runs.

With Ashleigh Gardner hitting a couple of big ones, Australia crossed the 300-run mark. Gardner added 66 runs for the seventh wicket partnership with Kim Garth. Gardner blasted back-to-back sixes off Radha Yadav in the 49th over before being run out for 63 off 45 balls (4×4, 4×6), going for a non-existent run.

Brief scores:

Australia 338 all out in 49.5 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 119, Ellyse Perry 77, Ashleigh Gardner 63; N Shree Charani 2-49, Deepti Sharma 2-73) against India.

–IANS

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