Bye Fergie Time, hello Alonso Time

After becoming the first team to win Bundesliga unbeaten, bagging a German double and their only defeat in a 52-game season coming in the Europa League final, Xabi Alonso would be wary of the second-season blues.

- Dhiman Sarkar

KOLKATA: Chasing 299 against Australia in Australia is no mean feat. But as long as Smriti Mandhana was in flow, India were in with more than a decent chance.

Her fourth One-Day International (ODI) hundred in 2024—most in a calendar year in women's ODIs—was the only standout feature of yet another disappointing batting display as India were shot out for 215 in the third ODI at Perth, handing Australia possibly one of their easiest clean sweeps ever.

Three wickets—Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, and Jemimah Rodrigues—falling on the same score highlights the problem India have in the middle order. It was smooth sailing as Mandhana scored 105 off 109 balls while stitching partnerships of 118 with Harleen Deol and 31 with Harmanpreet Kaur.

On 165/2 in the 33rd over, a consolation victory was well within sight, but Kaur holed out to mid-on. Then, in the space of five balls, India lost their spine as they ended up losing their last seven wickets for 26 runs.

In the end, Australia were too strong for India in their own backyard.

It didn't seem so when Arundhati Reddy was making the ball swing big and taking out the top four batters, but then Annabel Sutherland chimed in with 110 at No. 5 to lift Australia from 78/4 to 296/6 when she was finally out in the penultimate ball of the innings.

Ashleigh Gardner followed up her half-century with career-best ODI figures of 5/30 to ensure India couldn't go the whole distance.

Brief scores: Australia 298/6 in 50 overs (A Sutherland 110, T McGrath 56*, A Gardner 50; A Reddy 4/26) beat India 215 in 45.1 overs (S Mandhana 105; A Gardner 5/30) by 83 runs.