Smriti Mandhana and Beth Mooney light up the night

In the cauldron of Delhi's Arun Jaitley Stadium, where September heat clings like a lingering fume of an extinguished summer, cricket transcended its ledger of runs. India and Australia produced raw, radiant theatre. The third women's ODI between India and Australia became a revelation—tracing uncharted territory, where 781 runs cascaded like monsoon fury, yet the true torrent was unleashed by two openers turned virtuosos: Beth Mooney, Australia's pocket rocket with a farmer's unyielding grit, and Smriti Mandhana, India's silken assassin whose bat dances on the edge of impossibility.

Australia, electing to bat on a pitch as flat as a seasoned wooden plank, amassed 412 all out in 47.5 overs—their joint-highest ODI total, a mark etched in audacity. India, undaunted, surged to 369 all out, falling 43 runs short in a chase that flickered like a Diwali lantern before fading, handing Australia a 2-1 series win. The visitors preserved their unbeaten ODI series record against the hosts, but the eleventh came mighty close to finally tilting for India.

But numbers, as some might wryly note, are mere footnotes to the flair; this was Mooney and Mandhana's manifesto, an bold ballad of bat against ball, where brilliance begged no quarter. Alyssa Healy blazed 30 off 18, stringing seven fours, before Kranti Goud snared her at 43 for 1. Georgia Voll, the Queenslander with a penchant for Indian summers, feasted on two dropped catches to carve 81 off 68, her first ODI fifty a gift from fielders auditioning for farce. In the 22nd over, at 150 for 2, Sneh Rana's guile ended Voll's vigil, her 50th ODI wicket a handy milestone. Ellyse Perry then anchored with 68 off 72—seven fours, two sixes, steady as she ever is—forging 106 off 72 balls with the incoming Mooney, a stand that turned momentum into mayhem.

The 31-year-old from Badger Creek, whose World Cup scars only sharpen her edge, arrived at No. 4 like a storm dressed in sunshine. Her 138 off 75 balls wasn't mere accumulation; it was alchemy, thumping 23 fours and a lone six, her century arriving in 57 balls—joint-second fastest in women's ODIs, a blur equalling Karen Rolton's ancient feat and trailing only Meg Lanning's bolt. We need to linger and celebrate Mooney's crease-craft: how she exploited gaps with sweeps that kissed the turf tenderly, lofts over cover that mocked the infield, punishing Deepti Sharma's guile and Renuka Singh's swing with the precision of a poet wielding a pickaxe.

There was no relief for the Indians. On Perry's exit at 256 for 3, Mooney enlisted Ashleigh Gardner for 82 off 46, surging past 300, then 350, as India's misfields leaked 26 extras from 11 balls. A late implosion—six for 34, and Arundhati Reddy creditable 3 for 86—halted them at 412, but Mooney's exit at 379 for 6, lbw to Sharma, felt like the curtain on a soliloquy. Sixty fours in the innings: second-most ever in women's ODIs, a statistic that feels like the women are taking wings for a new orbit.

Chasing 413, India's response was Mandhana's mirage. Opening with Pratika Rawal (10 off 12), she pierced the powerplay like lightning through silk: a six off her eighth ball off Megan Schutt, a 23-ball fifty that turned Australia's seamers to spectators. Rawal at 32, and Harleen Deol (11 off 14) at 85 set India back, but then Smriti summoned Harmanpreet Kaur for a 121-run blaze off 57 balls. When the captain departed in the 21st over, it felt momentarily that girls may have tilted the night.

Kaur's 52 off 35, eight fours of captain's fire, was the spark; Mandhana's 125 off 63 the blaze—17 fours, five sixes, a symphony of drives that bisected fields and pulls that punished length. Her ton in 50 balls: fastest by an Indian in ODIs, her 13th across formats, eclipsing Virat Kohli with flourish. But even before Harmanpreet caught her breath by the dugout, Mandhana marched back, holing out to Grace Harris, hearts fracturing like porcelain falling to the ground.

Deepti Sharma showed the kind of character that is now forged in the hearth of this remarkable team. Her resilient 72(58) kept the flickering flame burning for India. A 65 run duet with Sneh Rana kept India's hope hanging by slender thread.

Schutt's 1 for 51 was thrift amid the torrent; The chase was curtailed, but not before Harman's angels worked their way to a valiant 369. As the World Cup beckons, Australia retain the bilateral upper hand; India, winless at home since 2007 until the second game's miracle, taste more than a hint of glory.

Yet Mooney and Mandhana? They depart not as victors or vanquished, but as vandals from an extraordinary ODI encounter filled with brave ambition and unwavering belief.

Photo by Pankaj Nangia/Getty Images