Bolton guides Aussie eves to 8-wkt win over India

Vadodara, March 12 - Australia rode on opener Nicole Bolton's brilliant unbeaten ton to tame the Indian eves by eight wickets in the opening women's One-day International and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match rubber.

Chasing a below par 201, the Southern Stars got off to a solid start with Bolton (100 off 101 balls; 4x12) and her opening partner Alyssa Healy (38 off 29; 4x6, 6x1) putting on 60 runs before being separated by pacer Shikha Pandey, who removed Healy.

Skipper Meg Lanning (33 off 38; 4x5) then joined Bolton to add 68 runs for the second wicket stand before Lanning was brilliantly ran out by Veda Krishnamurthy.

Thereafter, all-rounder Ellyse Perry (25 not out off 26; 4x1) walked in and in the company of Bolton, who reached her fourth women's ODI ton, completed the formalities with 107 balls to spare.

Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, India succumbed to 113/7 before wicketkeeper Sushma Verma (41 off 71, 4x3) and No.9 Pooja Vastrakar (51 off 56; 4x7, 6x1) rescued the hosts to some sort of semi-respectability with a 76-run record eighth wicket stand.

While most of the other Indian batters got decent starts, none of them managed to convert into bigger scores on a day when India missed their regular skipper Mithali Raj due to illness.

The teams will now clash in the second match at the same venue on Thursday.

Brief Scores: India 200 (Pooja Vastrakar 51, Sushma Verma 41, Punam Raut 37; Jess Jonassen 4/30, Amanda Wellington 3/24) lose to Australia 201/2 (Nicole Bolton 100 not out, Alyssa Healy 38, Meg Lanning 33) by 8 wickets.

IANS