Voll ton seals dominant win as Australia jump to 6-4 lead

Georgia Voll's second ODI century and a blistering 80 from Phoebe Litchfield powered Australia to a commanding victory over India at Bellerive Oval, clinching the ODI leg 2-0 and extending their lead to 6-4 in the multi-format series.

Australia chased down India's total of 251 for 9 with more than 13 overs to spare, inflicting a big defeat on the defending World Cup champions. For India, it was a familiar tale of a promising start squandered by reckless batting in the middle overs, a pattern that has haunted them throughout the ODI leg after their stirring 2-1 triumph in the T20Is.

Passed fit, Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss for the fifth consecutive time, but India couldn't capitalise on the advantage. Pratika Rawal and Smriti Mandhana gave India a strong foundation, putting on 78 for the first wicket on a largely benign surface. But Mandhana's dismissal, clean bowled by nemesis Ashleigh Gardner after shuffling across her stumps, triggered a collapse that India never fully recovered from.

India lost 5 for 52 between the 17th and 31st overs, with Jemimah Rodrigues falling tamely to Annabel Sutherland for 11 after being promoted to No.3. Rawal, who looked assured in making 52 from 81 balls, then became the victim of a calamitous run-out, left stranded mid-pitch after a miscommunication with Harmanpreet, a dismissal that effectively ended India's hopes of posting a match-winning total.

To her credit, the Indian captain marshalled the lower order effectively, her 54 from 70 balls helping India limp to 251. But on this surface, against this batting lineup, it was always likely to be insufficient.

If India harboured any hope of defending their total, Phoebe Litchfield extinguished it almost immediately. The opener was in sensational touch from ball one, repeatedly clearing the in-field and attacking the new ball with a freedom that left India's bowlers clueless. She smashed 41 of Australia's first 60 runs in the Powerplay, including three consecutive boundaries off Kranti Gaud, and brought up her fifty off just 42 balls, deploying the reverse sweep and dancing down to bludgeon debutant left-arm spinner Vaishnavi Sharma through the offside at will. Her dismissal for 80, cleaned up by Gaud having failed to execute a scoop that had worked brilliantly all innings, was the only blemish on an otherwise magnificent knock.

By then, though, the game was as good as done. Voll, who had endured a golden duck in the series opener and arrived under pressure having effectively replaced the injured Ellyse Perry, announced herself emphatically. Dropped on 19 and again on 53, both chances going down courtesy of sloppy fielding, she made India pay in full. The only remaining drama was whether she would reach three figures, and she came agonisingly close to being denied on 99 when wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh fumbled down the leg side. Voll raised her bat for a well-deserved century off 80 balls before falling shortly after, but the match had long since been decided.

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