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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3 US troops killed, 5 seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
Washington (AP): Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military said Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that has sparked retaliation from the Islamic Republic.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred. The statement said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
Central Command described the situation “as fluid” and said it would withhold the identities of the service members who were killed for 24 hours after their families were notified.
The US military also denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying on X that the “missiles launched didn't even come close.”
President Donald Trump had warned that American troops could be killed or injured in the operation.
“The lives of courageous American heroes may be lost, and we may have casualties,” the Republican president said in a video address released early Saturday. “That often happens in war. But we're doing this not for now. We're doing this for the future.”
Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and other leaders, Iran's counterattacks have struck US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.
Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever targeting Israeli and American military installations.
Before the strikes, Trump had built up the largest US military presence in the Middle East in decades. The arrival of the Lincoln and three accompanying guided-missile destroyers at the end of January bolstered the number of warships in the region.
The world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R. Ford, and four accompanying destroyers later were dispatched from the Caribbean Sea to head to the Middle East.
The Ford was part of the US raid in Venezuela that captured leader Nicolás Maduro, who was brought to New York to face drug trafficking charges. The operation in January claimed no American lives but left seven US troops with gunshot wounds and shrapnel-related injuries.
One of those injured received the Medal of Honor during Trump's State of the Union address last week. Trump said Army Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric Slover piloted the lead CH-47 Chinook helicopter that descended on the “heavily protected military fortress” where Maduro was staying.
Trump has launched several military operations during his second term, including strikes on members of the Islamic State group in Syria in retaliation for an ambush attack that killed two US troops and an American civilian interpreter in December.
The US military has also struck IS forces in Nigeria, after Trump accused the West African country's government of failing to rein in the targeting of Christians.
