Key events
8th over: India 31-2 (Mandhana 21, Rodrigues 0) Brown’s successful over ends with Mandhana yet again flashing outside her off stump and earning runs with a very streaky thick edge. Australia have two Indian wickets already but it could easily have been more.
WICKET! Verma c&b Brown 4 (India 25-2)
Verma has been trying to force the issue, but has failed to sync with the timing of this surface, so it comes as little surprise to see her offer a return catch to an Australian bowler in their follow through. However, considering how many mistimed strokes have bypassed fielders already it is a surprise to see the ball travel directly to Darcie Brown, who completes the catch diving forward halfway down the pitch. Australia right on top.
7th over: India 23-1 (Mandhana 16, Verma 4) Verma is desperate to get going, stepping inside then outside the line but Schutt is giving nothing away. Then Mandhana rides her luck again! Not for the first time today the Indian opener gets an edge to a Schutt outswinger but frustratingly for Australia it flies between diving fielders. This is becoming an exceptional new ball spell.
6th over: India 17-1 (Mandhana 11, Verma 3) Mandhana unfurls her first shot of note, late-cutting Brown for a single down to third that suggests she’s getting the measure of the pace and bounce of this surface. Brown has started reasonably enough but without the metronomic control of her more senior partner. Mandhana latches onto some length for a couple to midwicket and a third wide of the spell keeps the scoreboard ticking over.
5th over: India 12-1 (Mandhana 8, Verma 2) Schutt continues to make the ball talk and Verma is lucky her poorly-timed pull lands safely over the infield. Mandhana then has her outside edge tickled with consecutive deliveries, the second of which squirting for runs between second and third slips. Schutt may not have been the selectors’ first choice to open the bowling but she has come in and started magnificently.
4th over: India 8-1 (Mandhana 5, Verma 1) While Schutt is finding in-swing from over the wicket, Brown is getting the ball to curve pleasingly away out of the hand. Again length is critical with Verma able to rotate strike with a push into the covers form under her nose. Australia on top early.
3rd over: India 6-1 (Mandhana 5, Verma 0) Another chance! Schutt continues to extract prodigious movement off the pitch, drawing a thick outside edge from the left-handed Mandhana but the ball flies between third slip and the diving gully. Length is going to be critical for Australia with the new ball. Good length deliveries look incredibly threatening but Schutt overpitched a couple of times allowing Mandhana to get in line and stride to the pitch of the ball.
2nd over: India 2-1 (Mandhana 1, Verma 0) Darcie Brown, who has had a quiet series so far, shares the new ball. The right-arm quick starts by angling across Mandhana, looking for one to hold its line and draw the edge. The Indian opener is watchful, picking up a single with a compact drive.
1st over: India 0-1 (Mandhana 0, Verma 0) Schutt almost has two! Verma tries to counterattack but mistimes a straight drive that is just out of reach of the bowler’s left hand in her follow through. Outstanding opening over from the experienced South Australian, who wasn’t selected in the original ODI squad, but has come in today with immediate effect, hooping the ball into the right-handers from over the wicket.
WICKET! Rawal LBW Schutt 0 (India 0-1)
Schutt’s second delivery swings in from wide on the crease, hits a good line and length, and jags massively off the pitch, pinning Rawal on the crease. That looks very out. The Indian opener reviews but DRS does not save her. What a start for Australia!
Megan Schutt has the new ball, looking to exploit any bounce in this pitch, and take advantage of the overcast conditions. Pratika Rawal is on strike.
India’s openers head to the square in the vibrant blue uniforms that served them well in the T20s. Australia have ditched the forest green in favour of canary yellow.
Conditions
With the wind coming off the ocean it’s not as hot and muggy as might have been expected at this time of year. Temperatures are in the high 20s with plenty of cloud cover around which may help the ball swing. Thunderstorms have pock marked the region and remain a hazard but should blow through by mid-afternoon.
India XI
Pratika Rawal is back to open for India after her World Cup injury. Shafali Verma drops down to the middle order.
India 1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Pratika Rawal, 3 Shafali Verma, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (c), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Deepti Sharma, 8 Kashvee Gautam, 9 Sree Charani, 10 Kranti Gaud, 11 Renuka Singh
Australia XI
In a huge blow for the hosts Ellyse Perry has been ruled out, which opens the door for Georgia Voll to make some runs, while further down the order Kim Garth has failed to prove her fitness, allowing Megan Schutt an opportunity – Schutt wasn’t even in the original ODI squad, but she has been added along with Lucy Hamilton.
Both Perry and Garth have been ruled out of the remainder of the ODI portion of this series with quad injuries sustained in the third T20i. “Their availability for the Test match will be further assessed at the end of the ODI series,” Cricket Australia have said.
Australia: 1 Alyssa Healy (c), 2 Phoebe Litchfield, 3 Georgia Voll, 4 Beth Mooney (wk), 5 Annabel Sutherland, 6 Ashleigh Gardner, 7 Tahlia McGrath, 8 Sophie Molienux, 9 Alana King, 10 Megan Schutt, 11 Darcie Brown
India win the toss and will bat first
A fourth consecutive toss win for Harmanpreet Kaur and the world cup winners will get first use of the Allan Border Field pitch. Alyssa Healy would have bowled first anyway.
There are some murmurings from the ground that Australia have a couple of significant injuries to contend with. More on that when XIs are confirmed at the toss.
Preamble
Jonathan Howcroft
Hello everybody and welcome to live coverage of the first ODI of the multi-format series between Australia and India. We’ll be under way at Allan Border Field in Queensland at 1:50pm local time (2:50pm AEDT).
These are unfamiliar times for Australian cricket. They are unlikely to last long, but it is nonetheless noteworthy that the normally dominant women’s team are not in possession of either World Cup trophy and lost the T20 series to India that preceded these ODIs, alongside the men being bundled out of their T20 World Cup at the humiliation stage.
Mitigating factors abound, most pertinently for us today a changing of the guard as generational greats are replaced by newcomers still refining their craft. At the top of this list is Alyssa Healy, who returns to skipper her country during a valedictory series before international retirement. Healy will captain from the outfield with the veteran already handing over the wicket keeping gloves to Beth Mooney. Sophie Molineux, Healy’s successor as T20 captain, returns to the rank and file.
Australia have never lost at AB Field, but they have never faced an Indian side with so much quality or confidence. The recently crowned World Cup winners chased down a massive 339 the last time these teams faced off, and with momentum from the T20s behind them they are unlikely to be fazed by the occasion.
I’ll be back with the toss and teams shortly. If you want to get in touch while I’m around, you can reach me at jonathan.howcroft.casual@theguardian.com.
