IND W vs AUS W 2nd ODI: Ghosh's 96, Deepti's 5/38 go in vain as AUS take lead

Richa Ghoshs careerbest 96 and Deepti Sharmas 538 went in vain as Australia Women clinched a thrilling threerun win to take an unassailable 20 lead against India in their threematch ODI series here on Saturday Chasing 259 Ghosh led Indias reply with a fine 117ball 96 featuring 13 fours but the hosts stuttered in the death overs to suffer their ninth consecutive defeat to Australia at homeIndia managed 2558 in their 50 overs with Deepti 24 not out off 36 balls 1x4s and Shreyanka Patil 5 not out at the crease when the match came to an endAlso ReadWhy Virat Kohli is not captain of Test team Subramaniam BadrinathApart from Ghoshs heroics with the bat India also had their vicecaptain Smriti Mandhana providing early fireworks with a 38ball 34 3x4s 1x6sJemimah Rodrigues 44 off 55 balls and Ghosh laid the foundation with an 88run third wicket stand but could not deny Australia from maintaining their record in India of never losing a seriesIn a contest wherein both teams dropped more than 10 catches combined Litchfield eventually made the difference with two sharp catches after dropping one early on which followed a fine knock of 63 in the first innings to topscore for her sidePositioned at cover Litchfield helped break the thirdwicket stand to dismiss Rodrigues off Georgia Wareham 239 at a crucial juncture in the 34th overLater on when Ghosh was one stroke away from her maiden ton Litchfield pulled off another superb grab at cover off Annabel Sutherland 347 to deny her the feat and in effect India a winHaving kept wickets for all 50 overs of Australias first innings the 20yearold Ghosh batted with gusto and tremendous application with her stupendous knock featuring strokes in all parts of the groundAlso ReadAustralias head coach Andrew McDonalds take on Warners successorGhosh also capitalised on two lifelines one of which she got on the first delivery itself when Litchfield put down a tough chance at first slip soon after Yastika Bhatia 19 was dismissedGhosh kept India in hunt with her partnership with Rodrigues but Australia capitalised after finding a breakthrough Indias hopes suffered a serious dent when Ghosh who was cramping up in the later stages of her innings fell in the 44th over and Amanjot Kaur 4 in the 46thWith Deepti failing to get a moveon she had contributed only eight runs in her 47run stand with Ghosh iquest the task became even more challenging for the likes of Pooja Vastrakar 8 and concussion substitute Harleen Deol 1 who had replaced Sneh Rana for the remainder of the game in the second halfEarlier offspinner Deepti Sharma stymied Australias surge with a stellar fivewicket haul but seven dropped catches by India allowed them to post a challenging 258 for eightDeepti exploited a dry and turning surface to a fine degree to return with figures of five for 38 but her hard work was undone by the hosts horrendous fieldingShe accounted for Ellyse Perry 50 Beth Mooney 10 Tahlia McGrath 24 Georgia Wareham 22 and Annabel Sutherland 23 for her careers second fiveforAlana King who was dropped once each by Deepti and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur hammered three sixes to make an unbeaten 28 17 balls in a late surge to take Australia past the 250run mark which at one stage looked beyond the visitorsAustralia looked in complete command until the 22nd over powering to 117 for one through a 77run stand for the second wicket between Perry and Litchfield 63 98 balls 6x4sThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever