Hobart, February 27 (NationPress) Georgia Voll showcased her extraordinary talent by scoring a sensational 101, leading Australia to a decisive five-wicket triumph over India in the second ODI at Bellerive Oval on Friday. This victory enabled Australia to clinch the ODI series and establish a 6-4 advantage in the multi-format series.

India managed a total of 251/9, thanks to steady half-centuries from Pratika Rawal and Harmanpreet Kaur, but their score seemed insufficient to genuinely challenge Australia on a pitch and outfield that provided minimal help to bowlers, which proved to be the case.

As they pursued 252 runs, Australia experienced an early setback when captain Alyssa Healy was dismissed by Kashvee Gautam in the third over. However, this turned out to be the only moment of concern in an otherwise efficient and dominant chase, which concluded with a remarkable 83 balls remaining. Voll’s impressive century came off just 83 deliveries, featuring 13 boundaries and one six.

She formed a formidable 119-run partnership for the second wicket with Phoebe Litchfield, who contributed a solid 80 runs off 62 balls, including 11 fours and a six. This partnership shifted the momentum significantly in favor of Australia, as India struggled to penetrate with their bowling and lacked creativity in their field placements. Although a few wickets fell towards the end of the innings, Australia comfortably reached their target.

Australia’s innings did not start ideally, as Alyssa, who had scored a fifty in the first ODI in Brisbane, was dismissed early by Kashvee, who secured her first international wicket. Following this, Phoebe unleashed a breathtaking series of boundaries, including three consecutive ones off Kranti Gaud.

Against spinners N. Sree Charani and debutant Vaishnavi Sharma, Phoebe was in exceptional form, reaching her half-century in just 42 balls and becoming the second youngest Australian player to achieve 2,000 international runs, trailing only the legendary Meg Lanning.

However, her innings ended abruptly as she attempted a lap shot off Kranti Gaud, resulting in her dismissal. Voll, determined to maintain the momentum, survived a close call on 19 when Kranti dropped a challenging catch at long-on. She then smoothly shifted gears, impressively hitting leg-side shots and boundaries over extra cover.

Voll reached her half-century off 44 balls and continued to accelerate, effortlessly finding gaps and clearing the ropes with authority, despite being dropped on 53 by Smriti. Her century came off just 80 balls in the 31st over, albeit in a nervy fashion—an edge off Kashvee that wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh nearly caught, leading Voll to scramble for a single to reach the milestone.

With a cheeky smile, she removed her helmet to acknowledge the crowd's cheers, fully aware of how close the moment was to ending differently. Her innings concluded one ball later, caught off a mis-hit from Kashvee for an exact 101—marking her second ODI century, and her second against India. In doing so, she became only the third Australian woman to achieve multiple ODI centuries before turning 23, joining Meg (who accomplished this five times) and Phoebe (who has achieved it three times).

Beth Mooney provided reliable support during her partnership with Voll, but was dismissed after being caught behind following a successful review by India for 31 runs. Annabel Sutherland fell soon after for 10, caught off Deepti, who claimed her second wicket of the innings, but by that point, the match was well beyond India’s reach.

Earlier, Harmanpreet top-scored for India with 54 runs off 70 balls, while Pratika contributed 52 runs off 81 deliveries, yet the final score fell short on a pitch that offered little help to bowlers. For Australia, Annabel Sutherland, Alana King, and Ashleigh Gardner each claimed two wickets, effectively controlling the run rate and preventing India’s batters from fully capitalizing.

The innings followed a familiar trend of promise and frustration for India—Pratika and Smriti Mandhana established a solid foundation with a partnership of 78 runs in the first 16 overs, before the middle order faltered. A late surge of 73 runs in the final 10 overs, driven by Harmanpreet's composed fifty and a vigorous cameo from debutant Vaishnavi Sharma, allowed India to surpass the 250-mark.

After electing to bat first, Pratika and Smriti dazzled with their boundaries in the opening five overs. Despite not hitting any boundaries in the last five overs of the Power-play, India made it a fifth instance in the last seven matches where Australia failed to take a wicket during the mandatory powerplay.

Smriti Mandhana struggled to find her rhythm at the crease and was dropped three times. She eventually fell for 31 after missing an ambitious paddle off Ashleigh Gardner, resulting in her stumps being shattered, ending her 16th fifty-plus partnership with Pratika in ODIs.

Following Jemimah Rodrigues’ dismissal through an edge caught behind off Annabel, Pratika Rawal appeared composed, bringing up a well-crafted half-century off 76 balls before being run out in a disastrous mix-up with Harmanpreet at the striker’s end.

This misstep proved critical as Australia capitalized—Amanjot Kaur nicked behind off Nicola Carey, Deepti Sharma holed out to deep mid-wicket, and Richa Ghosh was trapped lbw by Alana, leaving Harmanpreet to carry the innings largely on her own. She found reliable support in a 55-run partnership with Kashvee, who contributed 25 runs off 34 balls before being dismissed by Ashleigh.

The Indian captain rose to the occasion, reaching her half-century in 66 balls before being caught at cover-point off Megan Schutt for 54 runs with just one over remaining. Vaishnavi then provided the late boost India needed by hitting a couple of boundaries in the final over, helping the team surpass 250, which was easily chased down by the duo of Georgia and Phoebe.

Brief scores:

India 251/9 in 50 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 54, Pratika Rawal 52; Ashleigh Gardner 2-39, Alana King 2-41) lost to Australia 252/5 in 36.1 overs (Georgia Voll 101, Phoebe Litchfield 80; Deepti Sharma 2-32, Kashvee Gautam 2-47) by five wickets.