Source :- THE AGE NEWS
By Daniel Brettig
Australia’s new era under freshly appointed captain Sophie Molineux made a flat start against a supremely confident India, comfortably beaten in a rain-shortened affair at the SCG.
Although the result was an upset of sorts, the biggest surprise of the night came before the match when Australia co-vice captain Tahlia McGrath out of its XI.
Ellyse Perry played with far more lateral aggression than previously,Credit: Getty Images
Without The hosts were sent in and bowled out for 133 amid a flurry of attacking but not always well-advised shot choices. India then rattled to 1-50 from 5.1 overs to be well ahead of run rate calculations when the rain arrived.
Led well by Harmanpreet Kaur, India looked assured in their first meeting with Australia since lifting the ODI World Cup on home soil late last year, and it was Molineux’s team that looked to be finding themselves.
McGrath, 30, was interviewed for the captaincy job last month and had deputised for Healy 15 times since 2022, but was dropped on Sunday in what Australia coach Shelley Nitschke described as one of her toughest ever calls. Nicola Carey took her spot in the team.
Without the all-rounder in the line-up, Georgia Voll (18), Phoebe Litchfield (26), Ellyse Perry (20) and Georgia Wareham all made starts, but there was not enough substance to put together a decent total in greasy conditions.
With Alyssa Healy retired, Beth Mooney took the gloves for Australia.Credit: Getty Images
Most notable about Australia’s approach in their first game since Healy’s international retirement was how Perry played with far more lateral aggression than previously, trying a ramp shot off the second ball she faced and later getting one away to the boundary.
With Molineux as captain, there was also no room in the side for leg-spinner Alana King, veteran seamer Megan Schutt or hard-hitting middle-order batter Grace Harris. But the depth in the batting line-up, with Belinda Clark medallist Annabel Sutherland all the way down at number eight, was of little use without partnerships being built.
Kaur took an excellent catch to dispose of Perry, who became the first of four wickets for the disciplined lines and lengths of Arundhati Reddy (4-22). Renuka Singh (2-14) was also abstemious for India, starving the Australians of width.
Sophie Molineux made her debut as Australian captain.Credit: Getty Images
When India came out to chase, there was plenty of incentive to start rapidly as showers encroached, and Shafali Verma duly hammered the first two sixes of the match. The first was a sublime lofted cover drive from Kim Garth’s away swinger, the second a contemptuous slog sweep from Nicola Carey’s medium pace.
Molineux brought herself into the attack early, coaxing Verma to pull her first ball straight to deep midwicket, but Smriti Mandhana and World Cup hero Jemimah Rodrigues were scoring freely to put India well ahead of the game when the covers came on.
After the game Nitschke spoke about the difficult decision to sideline McGrath, but said the vice-captain was showing signs of bouncing back to form after a difficult 2025. The low point of her year was her underwhelming performance at the ODI World Cup, where McGrath averaged 13.75 with the bat and was barely used with the ball.
“Tahlia has been a massive part of this team for a long time and obviously has captained in Midge’s (Healy) absence at times and is a fantastic leader,” Nitschke said.
“Her international T20 record is actually really good, and she’s done a good job for us over a number of years, and unfortunately she’s got squeezed out. So to leave her out was a tough call.“
– with AAP
Annabel Sutherland with back-to-back Belinda Clark medals.Credit: Cricket Australia
‘Tough to reflect on’: Cup defeat makes back-to-back medals bittersweet for Sutherland
Annabel Sutherland admits that 2025-26 will be a season tinged with the disappointment of World Cup elimination, despite joining an exclusive club, including Meg Lanning, as a back-to-back winner of the Belinda Clark Medal.
Sutherland was handed the award by Clark in a low-key ceremony with the rest of the Australian team on Sunday morning, after Cricket Australia were unable to find a date in the calendar to host the customary shared awards night with the men’s Allan Border Medal.
Having interviewed for the Australian captaincy role that ultimately went to fellow all-rounder Sophie Molineux, Sutherland said that the growing competitiveness of the women’s game around the world had left her eager to keep improving after Australia failed to make a global final for the second tournament in a row.
“It’s hard to go past the way the World Cup finished with where the team sat in the result we got there,” Sutherland said on Sunday. “I put a lot of emphasis on that World Cup, getting ready over the last couple of years.
“That was the focus in my preparation, how was I going to contribute to wins for Australia and I felt like I was able to do that with the ball throughout that tournament and in bits with the bat too. But [it’s] tough to reflect on, given the way the Cup turned out.
“[It’s] a special feeling and super grateful to receive the award from BC. Nice to know I’ve contributed to the team’s success over the last 12 months.”
Karen Rolton, Shelley Nitschke, Lisa Sthalekar and Lanning are the previous players to have scooped the award in consecutive years, and Sutherland (77 votes) took this one out narrowly ahead of Beth Mooney (74).
Spinner Alana King finished third with 55 votes, highlighting the controversial decision to leave her out of the T20 side to face India, with the top five rounded out by Ash Gardner (54 votes) and Phoebe Litchfield (43).
“Meg’s an absolute superstar, and if I could be half as good as what she’s done for the game then I’d be pretty stoked,” Sutherland said. “It’s been pretty cool, especially as a Victorian, to play alongside her, play under her when she’s been captain and learn from the way she’s gone about it.”
Sutherland took a break from the women’s Indian Premier League after the rigours of the Cup immediately followed by the WBBL, and said she was looking forward to seeing Molineux in action after she was announced as Alyssa Healy’s captaincy successor.
“She’s an outstanding leader from what I’ve seen in the Victorian set-up, and I know the Renegades girls can’t speak highly enough of her,” Sutherland said. “Most importantly, she’s just an outstanding person, and she has an ability to bring people together.
“People want to be around her, she’s got great energy and, most importantly, brings the best out of people. She’s been able to do that without being captain or vice-captain in the last couple of years. She has a presence about her, and I can’t wait to see the way she’s going to take this group forward.”
As for the lack of a set-piece awards night, Sutherland said there would still be celebrations provided the Australians could beat India in the opening game of their T20 series at the SCG later on Sunday.
“It’s pretty tough to find that date,” she said. “It looked different. Still, [it was] special to have BC there and do it in front of the team.
“It’d be nice to get the whole Australian cricket world together to celebrate, but it wasn’t to be this year. Hopefully we can celebrate with a win tonight and have a couple of quiet ones in the change room after, that would be nice.”
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