Bolton guides Aussie eves to 8-wkt win over India
Vadodara March 12 (IANS) Australia rode on opener Nicole Bolton s brilliant unbeaten ton to tame the Indian eves by eight wickets in the opening women s One-day International and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber.
Chasing a below par 201 the Southern Stars got off to a solid start with Bolton (100 off 101 balls; 4x12) and her opening partner Alyssa Healy (38 off 29; 4x6 6x1) putting on 60 runs before being separated by pacer Shikha Pandey who removed Healy.
Skipper Meg Lanning (33 off 38; 4x5) then joined Bolton to add 68 runs for the second wicket stand before Lanning was brilliantly ran out by Veda Krishnamurthy.
Thereafter all-rounder Ellyse Perry (25 not out off 26; 4x1) walked in and in the company of Bolton who reached her fourth women s ODI ton completed the formalities with 107 balls to spare.
Earlier electing to bat after winning the toss India succumbed to 113/7 before wicketkeeper Sushma Verma (41 off 71 4x3) and No.9 Pooja Vastrakar (51 off 56; 4x7 6x1) rescued the hosts to some sort of semi-respectability with a 76-run record eighth wicket stand.
While most of the other Indian batters got decent starts none of them managed to convert into bigger scores on a day when India missed their regular skipper Mithali Raj due to illness.
The teams will now clash in the second match at the same venue on Thursday.
Brief Scores: India 200 (Pooja Vastrakar 51 Sushma Verma 41 Punam Raut 37; Jess Jonassen 4/30 Amanda Wellington 3/24) lose to Australia 201/2 (Nicole Bolton 100 not out Alyssa Healy 38 Meg Lanning 33) by 8 wickets.
--IANS
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