“Happy days,” said Alyssa Healy at the toss, and she meant every word. When Harmanpreet Kaur — chuckling at her own unbroken run of luck with the coin — called it right and opted to bat first, Australia’s captain barely concealed her delight. At Allan Border Field, a ground they know intimately and have never lost at in women’s ODIs, Healy’s side wanted to bowl first anyway. They made full use of it.
By the time the winning runs were hit, Australia had extended their record at the Brisbane venue to 21-0, overhauling India’s 214 with six wickets and 70 balls to spare. It was a controlled, clinical performance — from the first over to the last — that served as a sharp reminder that, whatever India’s T20I series win a few days ago might have suggested, Australia remain the benchmark in women’s ODIs at home.
“We weren’t too unhappy when they won the toss and opted to bat first. It does a little bit here,” said Beth Mooney, the player of the match after a classy 76 that was the finest innings of the day across either side. Smriti Mandhana, who stood in for an injured Harmanpreet in the field during the second half, was candid in agreement. “The wicket didn’t play like we thought it would,” she said.
Australia win the 1⃣st ODI by 6 wickets.
We shift our focus to the next match in Hobart.
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/yUKqC8iLON#TeamIndia | #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/cVOLwrqqeU
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) February 24, 2026
India’s innings never truly recovered from its opening overs. A fit-again Pratika Rawal had won her place back at the top alongside Mandhana, with Shafali Verma dropping to No. 3 — but both fell cheaply to give Australia early control. Pratika was pinned in her crease by Megan Schutt’s signature in-dipper, the pacer herself a late addition to Australia’s squad after injuries to Kim Garth and Ellyse Perry. Shafali, in an unfamiliar position and still searching for timing, offered a return catch to Darcie Brown off a leading edge. At 25/2 in the eighth over, India’s plans were already unravelling.
Mandhana rode her luck early — a flurry of outside edges somehow bisecting the slip cordon — but gradually found her footing, becoming the only Indian top-order batter to read the extra bounce and consistently access the square boundaries. A promising partnership with Harmanpreet offered a brief period of relief, but it ended in the 24th over when Mandhana top-edged a Tahlia McGrath cutter to deep fine leg. Jemimah Rodrigues had already gone to a lifting delivery from Ash Gardner, and Deepti Sharma followed shortly after, undone by Alana King — whose figures of 1/43 flatly failed to reflect how well she controlled the middle overs, ripping her stock legspinner with consistent menace. Richa Ghosh, having flirted with the cut shot one too many times, was eventually taken at point off Sophie Molineux.
The brightest passage of India’s batting came from Kashvee Gautam, back in the side after a spell away, who used the sweep to telling effect against the Australian spinners, striking three sixes and three fours in a stroke-filled 43. At the other end, Harmanpreet ground out a patient half-century — 36 singles and 39 dots in that knock told their own story — before falling the moment she tried to shift gears at the death. When Kashvee was run out with nine deliveries still remaining, India’s total looked well below par.
Australia’s chase had one anxious passage: Sree Charani removed Phoebe Litchfield and Georgia Voll off consecutive deliveries just after the ten-over mark, and suddenly the game had some tension. Then Mooney walked out to face the hat-trick ball, and that was largely that. She was authoritative from the start — using her feet to drive down the ground, rocking back for cuts, picking up anything short with ease. Healy, meanwhile, compiled one of her more measured half-centuries, content to let her partner set the tempo. Together, they drained whatever hope India had carried into the evening.
It was, as Healy had wanted, the perfect counterpunch — and a pointed one at that. The T20I series result made for a lively storyline coming in, but Australia answered the only way that matters: on the field, at a ground where they simply do not lose.
