Lanning, Healy steer Australia to record run chase

Meg Lanning (97) and Alyssa Healy (72) starred with the bat as Australia comfortably paced and aced the highest ever chase in Women's ODI World Cup history, overhauling India's 277/7 in a final-over finish at Auckland's Eden Park. Both were involved in a century stand each among the top-four to set up the six-wicket win that keeps Australia unbeaten after five matches and firmly atop the points table, while leaving India in a must-win situation for their last two games to keep their qualification fate in their own hands.

Despite the tall ask, Australia and Healy were off the blocks quickly. The destructive opener took an early liking to the pacers, who struggled with Eden Park's odd dimensions, and struck half a dozen boundaries in the six overs before India switched to spin. At the other end, Rachel Haynes swept and pulled her way to a run-a-ball 25 in Australia's 67 off powerplay. Together, the pair made 121 and kept India at bay for more than 19 overs. With the spinners managing to slow down Australia's scoring, Healy joined the sweeping act in the 17th over and dispatched Rajeshwari Gayakwad to the fence thrice to take her side past the 100-run mark. On either side of that 14-run over, was a wasted DRS appeal from India against both the set batters, in their desperate need to find an opening.

Sneh Rana eventually got that breakthrough when Healy, attempting a reverse sweep, struck one clean to Raj at short third to depart for a match-defining 65-ball 72. One brought two, and Haynes sent a faint edge through the keeper in the following over off Vastrakar. However, in between, the Indian pacers' continued to struggle for control and with a generously spread out field, Lanning grabbed the opportunity to steer the ship to safety with easy singles and kept punctuating with the odd boundary without having to take a lot of risks. Keeping Australia ahead of the asking rate, the skipper reached her 50 off 56 balls. She put Australia past 200 enroute a 103-run stand with Ellyse Perry, who was just happy to bide her time and pass the strike over. At the rain-forced break, Australia were comfortably 28 runs ahead of the DLS par score of 197.

A few dots strung together and the wicket of Perry soon after the 12-minute stoppage gave India a brief window of opportunity but Lanning and Beth Mooney put those hopes to bed in a quick 44-run stand focusing on amply rotating the strike to keep up with the asking rate. For all her inconsistency in the day, Meghna Singh provided a late twist when Lanning fell for the trap in the penultimate over and sliced a drive straight to point where Mithali Raj had a couple of fielders stationed just for that. However, Mooney kept her nerve to seal the deal with two boundary hits to keep Australia's winning streak intact.

Earlier, Darcie Brown's crucial strikes on both sides of a record 130-run stand between Raj (68 off 96) and Yastika Bhatia (58 off 83) threatened a familiar collapse. But Harmanpreet Kaur (57* off 47) and Pooja Vastrakar (34 off 28) arrested the slide in time to provide the much-needed impetus at death with their 47-ball partnership of 64 that steered them to a fighting total after being asked to bat in overcast conditions.

Restored as India opener and replacing Deepti Sharma in the XI, Shafali Verma made a promising start with a six and four off successive deliveries from Megan Schutt in the over following the departure of her senior partner, Smriti Mandhana. But threat was diffused quickly by Brown as Verma's attempted cut was intercepted by Beth Mooney at gully in a fine diving effort.

Bhatia, dropping down to no. 3 today, joined forces with Raj to stitch the highest third-wicket partnership against Australia in World Cups that resurrected their innings. They were also helped by a generous dose of extras - 24 of them in wides of which 10 came in Ellyse Perry's opening over alone as the veteran all-rounder struggled with her lines against the left-right combination. Raj brought the fifty of the partnership in the 18th over from Ash Gardner, which featured another five wides, and India's 100 in the 22nd displaying a superior running between wickets to steal three. Despite her typically cautious innings, Raj didn't shy away from taking the occasional risk - like lofting one straight over Jess Jonassen's head into the stands just before reaching a 77-ball fifty - her 63rd in ODI cricket.

Bhatia, too, raised an identical 77-ball half-century - her first in the World Cup - but perished soon after as she holed out to Perry off Brown, trying to accelerate. The similarity in the two mature knocks eerily stretched a wee bit further when Raj also picked out Perry off an attempted slog-sweep.

At exactly 200/4 after 40 overs, with a set Harmanpreet in the middle, India looked set for a total in excess of 300 only for two quick strikes forcing a rethink. Nonetheless, they did well to pick 62 in the last seven overs courtesy the explosive partnership. Hamrnapreet kicked off the death overs acceleration with a boundary on either end of the over from Tahlia McGrath. But Alana King had the dangerous Richa Ghosh stumped and Jess Jonassen bowled Sneh Rana for a duck in the space of six deliveries across two miserly overs.

Harmanpreet kept at it, fetching half a dozen boundaries in her 42-ball fifty - mostly through sweeps. Australia also burnt both their reviews on Harmanpreet when she twice missed a flick off Megan Schutt, and even offered her life on 33 off King. Vastrakar, meanwhile, was the star in the two big overs at death that yielded 17 and 12 and featured two towering sixes smoked high into the stands on either side of the sightscreen, off King and Schutt respectively.

Brief scores: India 277/7 in 50 overs (Mithali Raj 68, Yastika Bhatia 59, Harmanpreet Kaur 57*; Darcie Brown 3-30) lost to Australia 280/4 in 49.3 overs (Meg Lanning 97, Alyssa Healy 72; Pooja Vastrakar 2-43) by 6 wickets