Darlington debuts, Australia bowl first in series opener

The first ODI is being broadcast in Australia on 7Mate and Foxtel and live streamed on Kayo Sports. Play begins at 10.05am AEST

Sydney Thunder teenager Hannah Darlington will make her ODI debut in today's series opener in Mackay, with Australia winning the toss and opting to bowl first against India at the Great Barrier Reef Arena.

Chasing a 25th straight ODI victory, Australia are without the world's top two ranked ODI bowlers in Jess Jonassen and Megan Schutt, which has offered a rare opportunity for the likes of Darlington as well as pace-bowling allrounder Tahlia McGrath, who played the last of her five ODIs in this record-breaking side last October.

LIVE SCORECARD: Australia v India, first ODI

India, meanwhile, will field three debutantes in Meghna Singh, Yastika Bhatia and 17-year-old wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh, while Harmanpreet Kaur (thumb injury) and Jemimah Rodrigues have been omitted.

Yastika was particularly impressive in Saturday's practice match against the Australians in Brisbane, the left-hander stroking a stylish 41 as wickets fell around her.

Despite being only 19, Darlington has taken 35 wickets across the past two WBBL seasons and in the absence of Nic Carey (abdominal strain) provides a notable point of difference for this Australian attack with her changes of pace and her stump-to-stump bowling.

"We've got good coverage in terms of pace, and Hannah Darlington's a really good change bowler," bowling coach Ben Sawyer said on Sunday after the western Sydney product took 0-17 from five overs to stall an Indian counter-attack in the warm-up game.

Darlington also becomes just the third Indigenous member of the Australian women's cricket team, following Faith Thomas and Ashleigh Gardner, who presented her with cap number 145 in front of teammates as well as her dad and sister today, with her mum watching on via FaceTime from interstate.

Australia captain Meg Lanning yesterday observed a "good, even covering of grass" on the wicket and speculation it will offer plenty of pace and bounce was clearly enough to convince the hosts to bowl first.

Ellyse Perry and 18-year-old South Australian tearaway Darcie Brown will share the new ball.

Today's match is the first of three ODIs as part of a multi-format series, with a one-off Test and three T20Is to follow.

Australia XI: Alyssa Healy (wk), Rachael Haynes, Meg Lanning (c), Ellyse Perry, Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Hannah Darlington, Darcie Brown

India XI: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Yastika Bhatia, Mithali Raj (c), Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh, Pooja Vastrakar, Sneh Rana, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Poonam Yadav

CommBank Series v India

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Rachael Haynes (vc), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

Sep 21: First ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 24: Second ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay (D/N)

Sep 26: Third ODI, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay

Sep 30 – Oct 3: Test match, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast (D/N)

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast