AUS v IND [W] 2024/25, Australia Women vs India Women 2nd ODI, Brisbane Match Report, December 08, 2024

Australia 371 for 8 (Perry 105, Voll 101, Litchfield 60, Mooney 56, Thakor 3-62) vs India

Georgia Voll smashed a maiden century to continue her stunning rise in the international arena as Australia moved closer to clinching the ODI series after Ellyse Perry also decimated a flagging India attack in hot conditions at Allan Border Field.

With the home team having comfortably won the series-opener by five wickets at the same venue, Perry put the finishing touches with 105 off 75 balls after Australia elected to bat first. They finished with 371 for 8 to notch their third highest total in ODI cricket.

Voll, who has replaced injured captain Alyssa Healy for the series, ignited Australia and backed up her unbeaten 46 on debut by blasting 101 off 87 balls to underline her rich form after an eye-catching WBBL.

Her belligerent hitting was on full display, clubbing 12 boundaries in total, and she combined in a 130-run opening partnership with fellow 21-year-old Phoebe Litchfield, who made 60 off 63 balls.

While Australia’s young stars provided another glimpse of the future, Perry wound back the clock with stunning power hitting as she became the fourth women’s player from her country to pass 4000 ODI runs.

It’s been another grim performance for India, who have been thoroughly outplayed so far in this three-match series as their bid for a first series victory over Australia in Australia appears forlorn.

In oppressive Brisbane heat reaching 35 degrees, India were helpless and it was a particularly tough initiation for debutant offspinner Minnu Mani, who finished with 2 for 71 from nine overs.

Mani was India’s only change from first ODI as they backed their struggling top order, who will need to collectively fire if the tourists are to pull off a monumental chase.

Australia made one change from game one with Sophie Molineux, who captained Melbourne Renegades to their first WBBL title, returning from knee soreness and replacing Georgia Wareham.

After Australia rolled India for just 100 on Thursday, captain Tahlia McGrath resisted the temptation to bowl first and their batters had to front up in potentially tricky early conditions with the match starting at 9.45am local time.

India’s new ball bowlers Renuka Singh, who hustled Australia in game one with three wickets, and Saima Thakor hoped to conjure swing and make early breakthroughs before the peak heat of the day.

But they bowled too full and runs flowed when Litchfield smashed a four on the second delivery before Voll took over with four boundaries in six balls to get Australia off to a flier.

Litchfield did have a slice of luck on 5 after mis-hitting Thakor to mid-on only for Priya Punia to spill a chance diving forward.

It proved costly as captain Harmanpreet Kaur turned to the spin of Deepti Sharma and Priya Mishra within the powerplay but to no avail.

Voll’s maturity continues to impress as she used her feet superbly against the spinners but made sure she didn’t overhit. Her driving was also a feature as she reached her half-century in 43 balls.

Litchfield had been largely overshadowed before igniting her innings with well-executed reverse sweeps to roll to a 59-ball 50. They were totally untroubled until Voll was deceived on 64 by a superb googly from Mishra, who impressed late in game one, and given out lbw before successfully reviewing with ball tracking suggesting it would miss leg stump.

India were finally rewarded in the next over when Litchfield hit Thakor straight to cover, but the respite was fleeting with Perry in an aggressive mood as she unfurled her trademark lofted drive to devastating effect.

Voll cruised towards a century with her only scare being on 86 when she was almost run out by a direct hit from Mani after attempting a quick single, but grounded her bat in the nick of time.

It wasn’t long before Voll flicked Mani to the legside to bring up her century as she calmly raised her bat and helmet with her proud mother beaming amid the applause in the terraces.

Voll could not power on after she edged behind a wide delivery from Thakur, but Perry took over with a flawless century off 72 balls having earlier notched 7000 runs across formats in international cricket.

Perry was eventually bowled by Deepti and her wicket triggered a late collapse. But Beth Mooney smashed 56 off 44 balls to ensure Australia surpassed the previous ground record of 325 for a women’s ODI.

She was eventually out stumped to Mani, who claimed her maiden ODI wicket before adding Molineux in a rare moment of joy for India.

Tristan Lavalette is a journalist based in Perth

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