Aussies target death-bowling improvement for second ODI

Australia skipper Alyssa Healy has earmarked Australia's death bowling as an area for improvement ahead of Saturday's second ODI in Mumbai.

The tourists hold a 1-0 lead in the three-game series after reeling in India's 8-282 with ease in Thursday's opening game.

But they could have been chasing a target below 250, after having India in trouble at 7-182 in the 38th over before Jemimah Rodrigues and Pooja Vastrakar added 100 from the final 12.2 overs.

"I think we could probably just tidy up our back 10 overs," Healy told broadcasters after Australia's comprehensive win. 

"With the way that we were tracking with the ball, I thought we could have kept them around 250, but they managed to get out to 280 and put a really good total on the board, so we can look at some areas there.

"But I thought the way that the batting group approached it was sensational and they cruised in at the back end and that's the blueprint that we want to put out there."

Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath all hit fifties as Australia reached their target with six wickets in hand and 21 balls to spare.

After struggling at times against spin in unfamiliar conditions during the one-off Test match, Healy was delighted with how her teammates handled the switch back to white-ball cricket.

Australia's ability to build partnerships, including the 148-run second-wicket stand between Perry and Litchfield, and the 88-run stand between McGrath and Beth Mooney, was also instrumental in completing the second-highest successful chase in women's ODIs. 

"I think it's just about playing straight," Healy said. "A lot of the players in our group play really well down the ground, we don't sweep too much, but they also use the angles behind the wicket a little bit.

"But still sticking to our natural game of playing straight probably helps when the ball is skidding on a little bit. 

"We can do that a little bit more than when it was ragging in the Test match (and) I thought the girls bounced back today and just showed us how we want to play."

Star India opener Smriti Mandhana missed the first one-dayer due to illness and the hosts will be desperately hoping the star left-hander has recovered in time to take her place in Saturday's XI.

But captain Harmanpreet Kaur laid the blame for their first-up defeat largely on her team's work in the field, after a series of misfields gifted Australia bonus runs throughout their mammoth chase.

"We knew it was at a defendable total but I think our fielding was not up to the mark," Kaur said. 

"The bowlers were doing their job and they were still getting those breakthroughs but our fielding was something that didn't work really well.

"We gave too many runs away and if we compare with the Australian side, they fielded so well, they stopped so many runs and I think that played a very big role today."

Australia's CommBank Tour of India

Test match: India won by eight wickets

December 28: First ODI, Australia won by six wickets

December 30: Second ODI, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

January 2: Third ODI, Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

January 5: First T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 7: Second T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

January 9: Third T20I, DY Patil Stadium, Navi Mumbai

Australia squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Tahlia McGrath (vc), Darcie Brown, Lauren Cheatle (Test only), Heather Graham, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris (T20s only), Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Wareham

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Jemimah Rodrigues, Shafali Verma, Deepti Sharma, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh (wk), Sneh Rana, Shubha Satheesh, Harleen Deol, Saika Ishaque, Renuka Singh Thakur, Titas Sadhu, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar