3rd ODI: Have to learn to take things till the end, says Harmanpreet after India’s 3-0 defeat to Australia

Perth: After losing to Australia by 83 runs in the third and final match and suffering a 3-0 clean sweep in the ODI series, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said her team has to learn about how to win chases after taking things till the very end.

A target of 299 against Australia was always a tall ask at the WACA Stadium, but Smriti Mandhana’s 105 meant India were in the hunt. But once she fell to Ashleigh Gardner with the score 189/4, the Indian innings crumbled like a pack of cards to be all out for 215 in 45.1 overs.

It also meant Arundhati Reddy’s career-best 4-27 also went in vain for India, who ended their short tour without a win and more question marks being raised about their preparedness for the 2025 Women’s ODI World Cup. “We bowled well, Arundhati especially, because of her we were in the game. We have a lot to learn from these games, will go back and analyse the tour. Smriti’s knock and when Richa scored 50 in the second game, that was crucial. We did well in patches but did not continue to keep the momentum. We have to learn how to take things till the end,” said Harmanpreet after the match ended.

Annabel Sutherland, who was adjudged the Player of the Match for her knock of 110 and took the Player of the Series award, said she was glad to have ground through the tough times in Australia’s innings to put the hosts in a winning position. “The Indian quicks challenged us, picked up a few wickets early and made things tough. Ash and I were able to grind through and cash in towards the back end. Always tough to find ways to climb up the order.”

“Girls have batted beautifully. We spoke about how we wanted to play and (were) glad it came off in these two games. Just looking after my body and travel, you go back to work in pre-season and make sure we arrive fit for these conditions.”

Tahlia McGrath cut a happy figure as the Australia captain and lauded the fact that different people stood up to make the hosts win across three matches. “Very happy, in particular, Ash (Gardner) and Belsy (Sutherland) were good with bat and ball.”

“Someone different has stood up every game, collective approach and we back each other and everyone is stoked for them. Our batting is the highlight for me, our top four took the game on in game two, Belsy today, in patches we were good with the ball. A bit of work to do there, being consistent.”

Australia will now travel to New Zealand to play three ODIs in Basin Reserve, Wellington, starting on December 19. India, meanwhile, will fly back home to play three T20Is against the West Indies, starting in Navi Mumbai on December 15, followed by three ODIs in Baroda.

–IANS