Key Points

The series decider will also mark the first women's ODI to be played in the national capital after a long gap of 29 years, 10 months and 10 days. Following Wednesday's commanding victory, expectations are high for India to clinch their maiden bilateral ODI series win over Australia.

The hosts, though, will remain wary of the visitors' proven ability to bounce back under pressure after crushing defeats. Coming to India, the 102-run victory brought renewed energy and smiles to the hosts' camp, as Smriti Mandhana's sublime 117 coupled with the six bowling options strategy helped India get their first home ODI win over Australia after 18 years.

Despite not much sizeable contributions from other batters and recurring dropped catches continuing from the opening game, Smriti anchored the innings well through her 117 off 91 balls laid the foundation for India posting 292 on board, the highest they ever posted against Australia in the format.

But it was the bowling unit that truly turned the tide, with spinners, a returning Renuka Singh Thakur and Kranti Goud striking early and often to bowl out Australia for 190, and give reigning world champions their heaviest defeat by runs in women's ODIs.

What also worked well for India was going away from five-person bowling attack, four of them being spinners, in the series opener to going for an extra bowler and boosting seam-bowling resources. Combined with smart fielding placements, India managed to apply pressure from the powerplay and never let Australia run away with the game.

But with Renuka seen walking off the field mid-way in the 18th over and didn't come back to bowl, it was again a reminder of India needing to carefully manage her, especially with a World Cup on the horizon. Whether she plays the game on Saturday or not remains to be seen.

India will also want for the middle order to stitch crucial partnerships and for the fielding unit to put up a way better show. In this series, India have dropped ten catches while taking eight chances. In ODIs in 2025, India have taken 47 catches while dropping 33 chances. It has meant their catching efficiency stands at 58.7%, which ranks 12th out of 14 teams.

Meanwhile, with their unbeaten runs in 13 ODIs coming to a cruel halt, Australia will view Wednesday's defeat as a wake-up call ahead of their ODI World Cup defence. Barring Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland offering resistance, the side was hurt by lack of big partnerships and bowling also not being at its accurate best.

For Saturday's decider, it remains to be seen if in-form opener Phoebe Litchfield will be available after missing the second match due to a low-grade quad strain, with the team management expected to take a call on her inclusion ahead of the game.

There's also a case of pace-bowling all-rounder Kim Garth's return to the playing eleven after not playing second ODI to give Darcie Brown, who eventually took 3-42, an opportunity. With the scoreline at 1-1, and the ODI World Cup looming, the stage is all set for a blockbuster series finale between India and Australia.

When: Saturday, September 20, 1:30PM IST

Where: Arun Jaitley Stadium, New Delhi

Where to watch: Star Sports Network for live TV broadcast and JioHotstar for live streaming

Squads

India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Renuka Singh Thakur, Arundhati Reddy, Richa Ghosh (wk), Kranti Gaud, Sayali Satghare, Radha Yadav, Sree Charani, Sneh Rana and Tejal Hasabnis

Australia: Alyssa Healy (c & wk), Darcie Brown, Tahlia McGrath (vc), Nicole Faltum, Ashleigh Gardner, Kim Garth, Grace Harris, Alana King, Charli Knott, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Annabel Sutherland, Georgia Voll, and Georgia Wareham

- IANS