India beat Australia by 2 wickets in team's record chase, end hosts' 26-match unbeaten streak
Mackay (Australia) (PTI): India's young batters Yastika Bhatia and Shafali Verma dazzled at the top with contrasting half-centuries to power their team to a consolation two-wicket victory over Australia in the third women's ODI, which ended the home team's 26-match unbeaten streak here on Sunday.
The visitors completed a tricky chase of 265 -- their highest-ever -- in the last over, gaining some lost ground ahead of the upcoming day/night Test, after conceding the three-match series in their previous outing.
The result meant Australia's record-breaking winning run ended at 26.
Chasing a challenging target, India got the start they needed, thanks to a 59-run stand for the opening wicket between Verma (56) and Smriti Mandhana (22) in just under 11 overs.
Coming off an excellent half-century some time ago, Ashleigh Gardner broke the partnership when she had Mandhana caught by Annabel Sutherland.
Bhatia (64) joined Verma in the middle and the two forged a fine partnership and carried on the good work without any difficulty.
After 25 overs, India were comfortably placed at 131 for one with the visiting batters hitting a boundary every over.
Known for her free-flowing game, the 17-year-old Verma seemed to have made a conscious decision to bat deep but battling what appeared to be back pain and exhaustion, the teenager from Rohtak gave in after reaching her maiden half-century in the format off 86 balls, ending a fruitful 101-run association with Bhatia.
Playing in only her third ODI, Bhatia, 21, was the aggressor in the chase and brought up his first half-century in 56 balls.
Bhatia added 14 more runs to her total before substitute fielder Molly Strano changed the complexion of the game with a spectacular catch in the boundary.
Attempting a pull shot, Bhatia ended up top-edging the Stella Campbell delivery and Strano completed a diving catch at deep backward square-leg.
The Indian batter also got a reprieve just before reaching her fifty, but she could not fully capitalise on it.
It was a big blow for India who were pegged back after that dismissal, suddenly finding scoring difficult after doing so with elan in the first half of their innings.
Richa Ghosh fell for a duck to Sutherland before the medium pacer went through the gap between Pooja Vastrakar's bat and pads to leave India in a spot of bother at 192 for five.
Skipper Mithali Raj broke the shackles with a welcome maximum off Stella Campbell after only six runs came off 20 balls, but the veteran too succumbed to the pressure created by the increasing asking rate as she was bowled by Sutherland when she tried playing an uncharacteristic shot.
However, Sneh Rana (30) and Deepti Sharma (31) quickly added 33 crucial runs down the order, enough for the ones who followed them to see the team through.
Earlier, Indian bowlers again let Australia off the hook as the home team recovered from a wobble to post a competitive 264 for nine.
Struggling at 87 for four in the 25th over, the hosts recovered through a 98-run stand between Ashleigh Gardner (67) and last-match centurion Beth Mooney (52).
Tahlia McGrath chipped in with a brisk 47 off 32 balls.
For India, medium pacer Pooja Vastrakar finished with figures of 3/46, while seasoned seamer Jhulan Goswami picked up 3 wickets giving away 37 runs.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss at the Harrup Park, Australia were off to a sedate start with the returning Rachael Haynes (13) and Alyssa Healy (35) putting on 41 runs for the first wicket in 8.1 overs.
Coming off a heartbreaking loss in the second ODI, Goswami provided the opening breakthrough when she had Haynes caught at mid-off while the batter tried to play one over the top.
India rejoiced again four balls later as a beautiful Goswami delivery lured skipper Meg Lanning to go for a drive only to nick it to wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh.
Australia lost two more wickets before the recovery began.
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KKR land Green for record-breaking Rs 25.20 crore; Shaw, Sarfaraz go unsold
Abu Dhabi (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders splurged a record-breaking Rs 25.20 to land top Australian all-rounder Cameron Green even as Indian stars Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz Khan went unsold in the Indian Premier League players' auction here on Tuesday.
Green surpassed compatriot Mitchell Starc (Rs 24.75 crore) to become the most expensive overseas player at an IPL auction. This was after Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings were involved in an intense bidding war for him before the latter emerged winner.
KKR also went after Venkatesh Iyer before pulling out of the race against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who fetched the services of the India all-rounder for Rs 7 crore.
As far as Green is concerned, his salary for the season would still be Rs 18 crore (USD 1.9 million) as the rest of the amount will go towards the BCCI's player development programme as per the rules of the auction for foreign players.
Green, who previously turned up for Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, has so far played 29 matches in the IPL to aggregate 707 runs and take 16 wickets.
Shaw, however, went unsold despite his fine run of form in the domestic circuit lately, and so was the case with Sarfaraz, who smashed a 22-ball 73 in a Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy match for Mumbai on Tuesday.
Big-hitting South African batter David Miller was bought by Delhi Capitals for his base price of Rs 2 crore, but New Zealand swashbuckler Devon Conway, whose base price was also Rs 2 crore, went unsold in the auction.
Seasoned South African opener Quinton de Kock returned to his old base Mumbai Indians for a base price of Rs 1 crore.
A total of 359 players -- 246 Indians and 113 overseas players -- are part of the mini auction pool with the 10 franchises bidding to fill up a maximum of 77 slots, including 31 reserved for foreign players.
