Australia got full reward for their 51-run win over India at the CricInfo Women's World Cup on BIL Oval at Lincoln University yesterday.

Australia responded to a determined Indian challenge by closing the vice in such a convincing manner that six wickets fell for 25 runs as India sought 224 runs to head off the defending world champions.

With four days before their next game, the Australians have been given two days off and they are heading off to various locations around the Canterbury region to watch whales at Kaikoura, try the hot springs at Hanmer Springs and visit the local ski resort at Mt Hutt.

Coach John Harmer was delighted with the effort for various reasons, not the least of which was the way the side appreciated the tactical requirements for the situations they were in.

"It was even stevens there for a long period. But when they were batting, the girls read the game the right way and picked up the scoring at just the right time," he said.

They did the same when fielding to apply the pressure of the blowtorch on the Indians whose valiant effort wilted under the pressure.

"We had a couple of tidy overs at the right time. The worry is that if you don't do anything at certain stages you fall into a hole.

"The recognition of what the strategy is at a particular time is not all that easy but they did it twice today.

"Overall, it was a good tidy effort. The good thing is that there is an improvement happening each game.

"And we are not playing as well as we can yet," he said.

Fielding standards between the two could not have been further apart.

India's fielding in a word was sloppy. Throughout the Australian innings, there appeared to be a deliberate ploy to keep the pressure on the Indians and several times chancey singles were taken which resulted in fumbles in the field.

Then, after India bowled itself back into the game in the latter stages of the Australian innings, they allowed Olivia Magno and Julie Price to add 42 runs for the sixth wicket.

Those runs were ultimately the difference between the two sides and while Australia were putting them on the board, India were guilty of dropping three chances, any one of which was capable of halting the Australian momentum.

From the moment they walked onto the field to defend their total the Australians defied the Indians to take them on.

It was a policy that paid off, for captain Anju Jain was run out by a direct hit from Olivia Magno when trying to regain her ground after being turned back from a single.

By that stage India had matched the Australian scoring and with the wicket were 59/1. But the Australians never panicked and waited their chance.

What the Indians missed was the ill Mithali Raj. She was ill with a throat infection and Purmina Rau moved up in the order. A steady batsman without being dynamic, she helped Anjum Chopra add 56 runs but got out at just the stage the scoring rate needed to be lifted.

Once her wicket fell, the onus was on the other batsmen to come in and get on with the job immediately. They were not able to do it with any conviction and as the run rate soared, the risk level appreciated and India succumbed.

It was a classy display by the Australians who confirmed their favouritism while the Indians must now build towards trying to beat New Zealand, also at BIL Oval, on Saturday.

© CricInfo