Australia beats India with the highest successful run chase in women’s ODI cricket

VISAKHAPATNAM, India (AP) — Alyssa Healy scored 142 as Australia beat India by three wickets in the highest successful run chase in women’s one-day international cricket.

Defending champion Australia won with an over to spare under lights in dewy conditions Sunday and moved atop the standings at the Women's Cricket World Cup with wins over New Zealand, Pakistan and now India.

Australia finished on 331-7 with Ellyse Perry (47 not out) hitting the winning six off the last ball of the 49th over, in reply to India's 330 in 48.5 overs.

Healy’s 107-ball innings included 21 fours and three sixes. It was a sixth ODI hundred for the Australia skipper, her second against India and third at World Cups.

Earlier, Smriti Mandhana’s 80 runs off 66 balls provided a great start for India after Australia won the toss and opted to bowl.

Mandhana hit nine fours and three sixes. She put on 155 runs for the first wicket with Pratika Rawal, who scored 75 off 96 at the ACA-VDCA Stadium. But India lost its last six wickets for 36 runs, and its dismissal with seven balls left proved costly.

Co-host India lost its previous game to South Africa by three wickets at the same venue.

Seven-time champion Australia is unbeaten in 12 Cricket World Cup games stretching back to 2022. It next plays Bangladesh on Thursday, at the same Visakhapatnam venue.

India has a week off before it plays four-time champion England in Indore.

Healy was player of the match.

“I’m really proud of the group today," Healy said. “We have been preaching about our batting depth and this chase proves it. Full credit to our bowlers for pulling it back – we could have been chasing 360."

South Africa plays Bangladesh on Monday, also in Visakhapatnam.

Mandhana led India’s top-order revival as she and Rawal provided its best start of the tournament in the first-ever 150-plus opening stand against Australia in women’s ODIs.

Mandhana also crossed 1,000 calendar ODI runs – a first in women’s cricket. She scored 50 off 46 balls, also reaching 5,000 career runs in the quickest time (112 innings) and becoming the second Indian – and fifth overall – women's cricketer to achieve this feat.

Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux proved expensive (3-75) but she broke through with Mandhana’s wicket. She also dismissed Harleen Deol, who scored 38 off 42 balls.

Medium pacer Annabel Sutherland took 5-40 – her first five-wicket haul. She had Rawal caught in the 31st over, before triggering the lower-order collapse.

Skipper Kaur scored 22 off 17 balls, while Jemimah Rodrigues scored 33 off 21.

Richa Ghosh provided the final flourish, with 32 off 22 but Sutherland’s late burst of wickets meant India crashed from 294-5 to 330 all out.

Healy and Phoebe Litchfield responded with an 85-run opening stand.

Litchfield scored a 39-ball 40 as Australia took advantage of a dewy outfield. Healy struck a barrage of boundaries – she hit eight fours and a six in 50 off 35 balls.

Left-arm spinner Shree Charani dismissed Litchfield, but Perry combined with Healy for 69 off 76 balls for the second wicket. Perry walked off with a hamstring issue, but returned later to guide the chase.

Two quick wickets fell but Healy ploughed on – she reached 100 off 84 balls and shared a stand of 95 off 70 balls with Ashleigh Gardner (45).

Healy was out in the 39th over and Amanjot Kaur struck twice late to cause some concern for Australia, but Perry and Kim Garth were there at the end for a stunning victory.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Australia's Ellyse Perry leaves the field retired hurt during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Australia's Ellyse Perry, left, and batting partner Kim Garth celebrate after their win in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match against India at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's Smriti Mandhana plays a shot during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur leaves the field after their loss in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match against Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, center, leaves the field after their loss in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match against Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Australia's captain Alyssa Healy plays a shot during the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Australia's Ellyse Perry, left, and batting partner Kim Garth celebrate after their win in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match against India at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur trains ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur trains ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A tattoo is seen on the leg of India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur as she trains ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Australia's captain Alyssa Healy, right, speaks to former Australian cricketer and commentator Mel Jones after the coin toss ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Australia's captain Alyssa Healy, left, and India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur walk past each other after the coin toss ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

India's captain Harmanpreet Kaur, left, and Australia's captain Alyssa Healy at the coin toss ahead of the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup match between India and Australia at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam, India, Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Alaska U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan acknowledges that sharing a name and party affiliation with the incumbent Republican gives him “an instant megaphone" in the crowded primary race. But Sullivan said his campaign isn't a sham or something Democrats put him up to doing.

He said friends for years have jokingly referred to him as senator and asked if he has ever thought about running. He said he’s been considering it for more than a decade.

“This is my choice,” Sullivan, who lives in the small fishing community of Petersburg, said in a telephone interview Monday.

Last week, Sen. Dan Sullivan accused the challenger Sullivan of “trying to trick” voters to help his main rival in the race, Democratic former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola. The senator suggested the other Sullivan's entrance in the August primary was part of a coordinated effort by Democrats and Peltola's campaign to confuse voters, an accusation they deny. He threatened litigation to get to the bottom of it.

The issue is of national concern to Republicans because they are seeking to hold onto their majority in the U.S. Senate in what is expected to be a difficult midterm election year for the party in power. Sullivan, the challenger, dismissed claims that his candidacy is a merely a ruse to undermine the senator's reelection chances.

He said he has had no contact with Peltola's campaign — “zero, none, zilch” — and said “no” when asked if anyone from the state Democratic Party or any national Democratic operatives had contacted him to run.

A Peltola spokesperson, Harry Child, has said the campaign “has no involvement with either Sullivan campaign.” The executive director of the Alaska Democratic Party, Jenny-Marie Stryker, said her organization “is in no way affiliated with either Dan Sullivan.” A Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee spokesperson, Monica Robinson, replied “no” when asked if the group had been involved in urging the challenger Sullivan to run.

Sullivan called sharing a name with the Alaska's incumbent U.S. senator “a matter of fate” and said he had done nothing wrong.

“I have every right to run for whatever office I'm qualified for, and I’m qualified for this office,” the challenger said, adding: “I think I’m doing what most Americans would think would be a patriotic thing to do when you’re unsatisfied with the status quo. You stand up and say, I’m going to fight for things I believe that are going to make my community better.”

Ballots in prior years in Alaska have not identified the incumbent, but the Alaska Division of Elections’ current candidate list online does. It also distinguishes the candidates using a middle initial — Dan S. Sullivan for the senator and Dan J. Sullivan for the challenger.

Alaska has open primaries in which the top four vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the ranked choice general election in November. Sen. Sullivan's campaign worries having two Dan Sullivans on the ballot could confuse voters.

Sen. Sullivan's campaign, in a statement Monday, said, “Alaskans deserve a fair and honest election — not political games meant to manipulate the ballot and benefit Democrats.”

The challenger said he was registered with the limited government-leaning Alaskan Independence Party for decades, until the party's dissolution late last year. Election officials had said voters registered with the party could change their affiliation but if they did not, they'd be shown as “undeclared.” Sullivan said he then was listed as undeclared until filing to run for office, when he registered as Republican.

He said he was motivated in part by his late father, whom he described as a “true, compassionate, conservative Republican.” He said if he had to label himself, it would be “a pragmatic Republican centrist” — similar to Alaska's senior U.S. senator, Lisa Murkowski, but “with touches of a Rand Paul Republican in there.”

He said he grew up in the Chicago area but was drawn to Alaska and put down roots nearly 50 years ago in Petersburg. The fishing community of about 3,400 in southeast Alaska's Tongass National Forest is known as “Little Norway” for its many residents with Scandinavian roots. He worked for the U.S. Forest Service before changing careers and becoming a teacher. He has since retired.

Like most communities in Alaska, Petersburg isn't connected to the state's main road system and is accessible only by air or water. Juneau, the nearest city, is about 45 minutes away by plane.

Petersburg sits on Mitkof Island, which is distinguished by mountains, thick stands of forest and boggy areas called muskeg. Sea lions hauled up on buoys and humpback whales and orcas are common sights off its shores.

Sullivan, who will turn 69 this weekend, passed on an interview request last Friday, he said, because the king salmon were running and he wanted to fish.

As far as his run for office, the challenger said he plans to do some fundraising and hopes to campaign in the state's larger cities, including Anchorage and Juneau, but he so far has no firm plans to do so and is working on the details.

He finds the current dustup over his Senate run — and the incumbent's reaction — a bit surprising.

“I guess my thought would be, ‘Dude, why don’t you just run your campaign?’ If you’ve got a strong record, run on your record. People will love you for it and you’ll be swept back into office,” he said Monday. “Why would he be concerned that a guy out of Petersburg is this huge threat?”

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, heads to a closed-door meeting with fellow Republicans, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, June 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)