The moment Smriti Mandhana got out – in the 14th over, to a shot that would be poor on most occasions, but more so when her partner had been dismissed a ball ago – you got the feeling of inevitability.
Scratch that.
The feeling of inevitability began much earlier, when Australia reached 235 in 40 overs and when they got 20 in the penultimate over to finish with 332, their highest score in India. The hosts ended up losing in the third and final ODI between India and Australia on Sunday by 97 runs.
A target of 333 was always going to be gigantic ask, it didn’t help matters that both Indian openers were in the hut in 14 overs, after giving a brilliant start.
But when Mandhana got out, this sense of inevitability was crystallised into dread; this might just be huge margin. It was no so much about the ability of Indian batting, not with Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur on crease, but rather the kind of form they have been in against the Aussie bowlers. They did notch a good partnership, but it was broken six overs later and thus began the eventual procession.
200. 227. 235. That is how much Indian batting lineup scored in the three matches as the visitors have romped to three comprehensive wins by margins of eight wickets, 60 runs and 97 runs respectively.
Considering the similarity of all three results – outplayed with few positives – it is easy to dissect where India went wrong.
But given that these ODIs were a part of the ICC Women’s Championship and there will be many more ODI series to play, it is important for the team and think tank to look ahead and focus on some of the things they needs to build on, areas they need to improve in.
Top heavy
In complete fairness, there are several aspects to this: the fielding, bowling tactics, running between the wickets, plan for specific batters. But one of the biggest things for India to work on will be the contribution of middle and lower order.
It is an aspect that Raj, the captain, has touched upon a number of times in the last couple of months and one that sticks out the most in the final scoreline. Once the top order is gone, the final target becomes more of a hit-and-miss. The batters largely shift to accumulating runs rather than actively seeking them with smart play.
In this series, the first match witnessed a complete batting collapse. But in the other two, even if a win looked increasingly difficult to achieve, India needed to come as close to the target as possible. No ICC Women’s Championship match is a dead rubber, with the points on offer and the Net Run Rate factor. However, the middle order failed to hold on, and it resulted painfully familiar collapses.
Admittedly, both Harmanpreet and Mithali had poor series by their standards, making the deficiencies of the middle order even more obvious, and Punam Raut’s struggles added to the woes. But India’s reliance on the top order to score the bulk of the runs also means undue pressure on everyone.
The best illustration of this is the stark contrast in fortunes of both teams’ No 4, the star players, Harmanpreet and Ellyse Perry: 51 runs at an average of 17 for the Indian, 127 at an average of 127 (she was not dismissed twice) for the Aussie.
Harmanpreet’s returns were unlike the ones expected from the player who had blown away the same team at the World Cup. But her strike rate of just 63 was a stark departure from her usual style of play. Perry, by contrast, striked at 81.
Given how key a player Harmanpreet is to the team and in the middle order, her poor form seemed decisive in the end.
Data Check
The problems with the middle order were seen in the last series against South Africa as well, even though India won 2-1. The total score in the three ODIs were 213/7, 302/3 and 240, with leading run-scorer Mandhana making 219, followed by Veda Krishnamurthy (109).
In the first, Mandhana top-scored with 84, Raj made 45 and Raut 19 – the top three scorers. That India managed to win the match was down to the 7 wicket shared between pacers Jhulan Goswami and Shikha Pandey. In the second, Mandhana scored a splendid 135 with Harmanpreet and Veda scoring fifties. India lost the third match, where the middle order showed their chops. Deepti, as opener, scored 79, Veda made 56 and Pandey 31.
Against Australia, Mandhana was still top-scorer in the three-match series, but with 131 runs. And the second highest was India’s No 9 Pooja Vastrakar, followed up Sharma (80) and Verma (79).
If there are three middle and lower order bats in the list of highest run-getters, why is it still a bad performance, one could ask.
The answer is not a pleasant one. Because the performance is nowhere near the required standards in today’s game and definitely not enough to beat the best overall unit in women’s cricket. Verma notched her highest score in ODIs this series, which is only 41, Sharma came in at No 3 in the second ODI. Their strike rates paint a grim picture – 66 and 67. And Veda Krishnamurthy’s poor form (18 runs) made things worse.
She was dropped for the last game, a call not many agreed with, given she was handy down the order in South Africa and more in touch than Mona Meshram. While her proclivity for big-hitting is risky given she is the last proper batter in the line-up, she is easily the most experienced batsan India has in the lower-middle order.
It is a tad unfair given the institutional difference but India can learn much from the Australian middle order, that made whatever little chance they got count. Beth Mooney scored 90 runs in two innings at a strike rate of 153 while Ash Gardner scored a total of 41 runs, at almost a rate of 158. Even Rachel Haynes, who scored in only one innings, scored at a strike-rate of 102.
This is the kind of impetus India need from their No 5, 6 and 7, more so when the top has failed.
Looking ahead
But none of these problems cannot be worked on before the next ODI series against England begins.
The resources are already there; Vastrakar has shown the chops to mature into a handy lower-order bat, the onus is now on Shikha Pandey and to an extent Sushma Verma to shoulder more responsibility. With the return of Jhulan Goswami, there will be a sense of stability among the tail-enders again.
But this sense of stability will have to evolve into a stable, match-winning middle order for India to become a better, more consistent version of the spirited team that reached the World Cup final.
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