Butter-fingered India dropped four catches as fine half-centuries from Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland powered Australia Women's to a crushing eight-wicket victory in the first ODI in Mullanpur on Sunday.
Batting first, India posted 281 for seven, and Australia completed the chase in 44.1 overs.
Litchfield (88 off 80 balls) was dropped twice while Mooney (77 not out off 74) and Ellyse Perry (30 retired hurt) received a lifeline each, as the Australians took a 1-0 lead in the three-match affair, which precedes the upcoming ODI World Cup.
During their stay in the middle, Mooney and Sutherland (54 not out off 51) added 116 runs for the third wicket.
Mooney, who was dropped by Deepti Sharma on 56, struck nine fours in her knock while Sutherland had six hits to the fence.
India had done fairly well in the first half of the game to set the visitors a 282-run target, putting their money on their spin battery but when chances were produced, the fielders came up short.
Litchfield made the most of two lifelines to make 88 runs with 14 fours which was laced with spectacular shots across the ground as she set the platform for Australia's successful run chase.
However, Litchfield had the Indians to thank for that since she received a lifeline as early as in the second over when Jemimah Rodrigues spilled a sitter at midwicket off Sneh Rana when the Australian was yet to open her account.
In the 19th over, Litchfield got another lifeline on 56 when India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur dropped another easy chance at cover off Radha Yadav.
In between, Perry got a reprieve when Pratika Rawal, coming in from deep midwicket, could not hold on to a skier, which was hit high off a full toss from Radha, in the 17th over.
While the Indians did try their best to build pressure on the Australians in the field, the dropped catches and the occasional misfields did not help.
A firm believer of the reverse-sweep shot, Litchfield executed most of them adroitly.
One of them even went soaring for a boundary over the cover region but over reliance on the stroke led to her dismissal when a top edge was taken by substitute fielder Arundhati Reddy off Rana in the 27th over.
Litchfield's dismissal followed Perry's return to the dressing room owing to a calf strain which prevented her from running comfortably between wickets, putting a halt to their flourish in which the two Australians put on 79 runs for the second wicket.
Perry's exit brought Mooney at the crease while Litchfield's dismissal had no impact on Australia's surge as they won the game comfortably.
Earlier, half-centuries by Pratika Rawal (64), Smriti Mandhana (58) and Harleen Deol (54) powered India Women's to a competitive 281 for seven in the first One-Day International of the three-match series against Australia.
India were served well by their top order batters with each of them hitting their stride to make significant contributions, even as the middle order players did not get going.
Rawal and Mandhana put on 114 for the first wicket — now the third highest for India against Australia -- showing why they have been a force to reckon with as a pair.
Australia, on their part, used as many as eight bowling options to get their players up and running in Indian conditions, with the ODI World Cup now a fortnight away.
On a conducive wicket, both India and Australia fought hard for control of the proceedings as after the fall of Mandhana in the 22nd over, the visitors tightened the screws.
Mandhana's charge ended with an embarrassing mix-up with her opening partner. The India vice-captain set off for a sharp single after hitting it towards Phoebe Litchfield at extra cover but Rawal denied the single, leaving Mandhana in no state to turn and make it back in time.
If not for that run-out, Mandhana was set for a big score having batted fluently for her half-century, which included six fours and two sixes.
This was shortly after Rawal brought up her fifty two balls earlier — her sixth in the format — but she too could not push on for a bigger score.
Rawal perished in the 31st over when she went for a slog against Alana King but found Ellyse Perry at midwicket, who did not fumble in taking a regulation grab.
India, who had crossed the 100-run mark by the 18th over following a positive start, had crawled to 168 for three after the 35th with only four boundaries — one four and three sixes — being hit during this passage of play.
Like the openers, Harleen too batted with a lot of intent hitting four fours and two sixes during her knock, which came off 57 balls.
Even though India did struggle in the middle overs to accelerate and find regular boundaries, they managed to forge vital partnerships all the way through the end to put up a formidable total on board.
Brief scores:
India Women's: 281/7 in 50 overs (Pratika Rawal 64, Smriti Mandhana 58, Harleen Deol 54; Megan Schutt 2/45).
Australia Women's: 282/2 in 44.1 overs (Phoebe Litchfield 88, Beth Mooney 77 not out, Annabel Sutherland 54 not out).
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