Australia clean sweeped Pakistan 3-0 in the ODI series with the help of Alyssa Healy’s 75 ball 97 and Ashleigh Gardner’s allrounder performance in the final ODI in Kuala Lumpur.
Another young star from Victoria Tayla Vlaeminck got her ODI cap for Australia from her idol Elysse Perry who was playing her 100th ODI for the Ausies and 200th overall for the Southern Stars.
Well Australia decided to bat first in the final encounter. Alyssa Healy began her innings in style hitting two consecutive fours in the first two balls of the match . While Bolton on the other hand got out on duck facing very first delivery of Sana Mir. Healy kept on hitting boundaries while Lanning was taking her time to settle in but she snicked one to the keeper in the 9th over . Up next was the star attraction of the match Elysse Perry , hopes were high that she will go big in her 100th match . She made 108 run partnership with Healy in which most of the contribution was from her partner . Alyssa Healy paid the price of her aggression when she decided to go big on 97 but missed the ball.
Perry played a brilliant shot for six over cover in her innings but she got lbw by Sana Mir in 29th over making 32 off 64 balls. Beth Mooney and Racheal Haynes both were new on the crease but they kept the momentum going , they both reached 30 run mark but then both of them got out in two successive overs.
Young Sophie Molineux who already proved her mettle with ball got her chance to show what she is capable of with bat and she batted upto expectation . Whereas All rounder Ashleigh Gardner came with all gun blazing and it is because of her quick 62 off 37 (6 Fours and 3 Sixes ) Australia managed to get par 300. So 325 was the target which seems quite impossible for the Pakistani Batting Line up .
Pakistan Openers started really well and made 49 run partnership before Munneba miss timed a full toss bowled by Gardner in the 10th over. They were batting slowly but they were not giving away their wicket cheaply . Nahida was the second batter to get out but she made considerable contribution of 37. While Captain Javeria once again disappointed and it was debutant Tayla Vlaeminck who got her out. Wicket Keeper Sidra Ameen and Nida Dar made 49 run partnership and then after Dar’s wicket Sirda made 40 run partnership with Aliya Riyaz before she got bowled by Sophie Molineux. Aliya Riyaz showed some clean hitting with her bat, she hit two sixes and seven fours in her 51 runs innings .Experienced Sana Mir once again contributed with bat as well but it wasn’t enough to reach the target . So in the end Pakistan only managed to reach 235 runs and lost the match by 89 runs.
Well They must be satisfied with their batting performance this time around . The only issue was none of the batswomen who got start was able to convert it into a big innings but they will be keen to improve that in the upcoming T20 series.
BRIEF SCORES:
Australia Women : { Alyssa Healy 97(75) , Ashleigh Gardner 62(37) ; Sana Mir 54/3 }
Pakistan Women : { Aliya Riyaz 51(69) , Sidra Ameen 41(74) ; Ashleigh Gardner 44/3 }
Ashleigh Gardner was adjudged as Player of the Match for her All round effort.
Sana Mir and Meg Lanning shared Player of the Series Award.
Elysse Perry became 35th player in the world and 6th Australian to play 100 or more ODI’s . Whereas Mithali Raj has Played the most . The Australian Allrounder who debuted in 2007 has made 2581 runs so far averaging almost 50 and has also taken 131 wickets. She has lot more to offer to the World Cricket and we hope she will continue to give more entertaining performances.
