Teen stars and veterans combine for Australia's 25th straight win

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Fast bowler Darcie Brown was only 15 years old when Australia started their current winning streak, and all-rounder Hannah Darlington 16. The rookie duo accounted for six wickets on Tuesday as India were held to a total of 225/8.

Brown, playing her second ODI, took 4/33, while debutant Darlington chimed in with 2/29.

Australia had little trouble chasing down a target of 226, with Alyssa Healy (77) and Rachael Haynes (93*) – two of the four players involved in all 25 wins in the current streak – putting on a 126-run opening stand before captain Meg Lanning (53) added the finishing touches in a nine-wicket win.

Healy raced to her half-century in just 56 balls, dominating the early parts of the partnership as the duo raised the 100-run stand by the 18th over.

With a six off Poonam Yadav (1/52) in the 22nd over, Healy went past the 2000-run mark in ODI cricket. She perished on the very next ball for 77, skewing the spinner into the hands of cover.

Haynes, who had been the foil of the partnership but still scoring at close to a run-a-ball, brought up her half-century shortly after Healy's fall off just 55 deliveries.

With the platform laid by Australia's ever-reliable opening pair, captain Meg Lanning iced the match alongside Haynes, notching a half-century of her own.

With Megan Schutt missing the series, Ellyse Perry shared the new ball with Brown and it was the youngster who led the way for the Australians.

With Perry (0/37) uncharacteristically inaccurate in the early going, leaking 26 runs from her first two overs, Brown (4/33) turned the screws from her end before bouncing out the dangerous Shafali Verma (8) in the fourth over with a ball that kissed her gloves.

It was Brown’s first ODI wicket and she didn’t have to wait too long for her second, striking again in her next over with the big dismissal of Smriti Mandhana for 16. The quick drew the opener into a drive that skewed into the hands of Haynes at point, reducing India to 38/2 from 5.1 overs after an early flurry of boundaries.

Yastika Bhatia and captain Mithali Raj went about rebuilding India’s innings from there, and with that, the run rate slowed.

Bhatia survived a tight run-out chance on 13 while Raj had to undergo a concussion test on 11 after being struck flush on the helmet by a short ball from Perry, who was tighter in her second spell but still the most expensive of Australia’s bowlers. That said more of the frugality of the attack than Perry’s spell given she went at just 5.5 runs per over for those two overs.

Georgia Wareham (0/36) came into the attack in the 20th over and her introduction coincided with India’s first boundary since the eighth as Raj stepped out of her crease to smoke her over the covers. That brought up the fifty-run stand for the pair.

The duo had India heading in the right direction and with the partnership starting to accelerate, Lanning brought Brown back into the attack in the 27th over. It proved a masterstroke, with the speedster striking with her first ball of the spell, having Bhatia caught at point for 35.

She should have been celebrating again in her next over, drawing an edge from Deepti Sharma only for Lanning to spill the chance at first slip. Thankfully for Australia, the reprise did not cost them too dearly with Sharma perishing for nine in the 31st over to a Brown short ball top-edged to square leg.

In the company of Pooja Vastrakar, Raj steadied India’s innings again, raising her 59th ODI half-century – and fifth in a row – during a 37-run stand that had them primed for a big finish. Unfortunately for the tourists, she perished in the 38th over to Sophie Molineux (2/39), stumped for 63.

Darlington got into the action from there, opening her account with the dismissal of Vastrakar (17), before bowling Sneh Rana (2) to leave India at 178/7 in the 43rd over. They looked in danger of finishing with a total below 200 but a quickfire 32 not out from Richa Ghosh and 20 from 24 from Jhulan Goswami gave the Indians a much-needed boost, dragging them to 225/8.

Despite the late flurry of boundaries, it was never likely to be enough against Australia’s powerful batting order and so it proved.

The sides next meet on Friday in a day-nighter.