Smriti Mandhana's Century Powers India Women to Victory, Levels Series Against Australia

Smriti Mandhana struck a sparkling century as India women secured a resounding 102-run victory over Australia in the second ODI in Mumbai on Wednesday, levelling the three-match series 1-1.

Put in to bat, Mandhana dominated from the outset, compiling a fluent 117 from 91 deliveries – her 12th one-day hundred – to anchor India’s innings. Useful contributions from Deepti Sharma (40), Richa Ghosh (29), Pratika Rawal (25) and Sneh Rana (24) lifted the hosts to 292, though Australia’s bowlers, led by Darcie Brown (3-42) and Ashleigh Gardner (2-39), prevented India from crossing the 300-run mark.

Australia’s reply faltered early as Kranti Goud and Renuka Singh Thakur struck with the new ball, restricting the visitors to just 25 runs in the powerplay. Ellyse Perry (44) and Annabel Sutherland (45) kept the chase alive with a steady partnership, but once Perry was dismissed by a sharp return catch from Radha Yadav and Sutherland fell to Arundhati Reddy, the innings unravelled.

The Australians were dismissed for 190 in 40.5 overs, losing their last six wickets for 56 runs. Goud returned figures of 3 for 28, while Deepti Sharma’s 2 for 24 underlined a disciplined bowling display, with all six Indian bowlers used by captain Harmanpreet Kaur among the wickets.

IND-W vs AUS-W 2nd ODI Updates

The victory was significant on several counts. It ended Australia’s 13-match winning streak in ODIs and gave India their first home win against the world champions since February 2007 in Chennai. For Mandhana, the century was particularly special – ten of her 12 ODI hundreds have now come in winning causes, though her two previous centuries against Australia had ended in defeat.

Meanwhile, the series now heads to a decider scheduled to be played on Saturday, September 20. Both teams will be eyeing to wrap up their Women’s World Cup 2025 preparations with a series win, with the tournament scheduled to begin on September 30.