AJ Blackwell and LC Sthalekar hit splendid half-centuries as the Australian women's team beat India by eight wickets in the first of the five-match ODI series in Sydney on Friday.

The duo took charge of the Australian innings after the Indian bowlers had dismissed opener L J Poulton in the 14th over and slowly but surely guided the team towards the victory target of 184.

G Sultana finally got rid of Blackwell, but K L Rolton and Sthalekar safely achieved the required total without further hiccups.

Except for R Dhar, who claimed one wicket while giving away just 17 runs in eight overs, the rest of the Indian bowlers failed to make an impact.

Earlier, electing to bat after winning the toss, the Indian eves suffered an early jolt when J Sharma was caught leg before by D M Kimmince in the fourth over.

Indian wickets fell at regular intervals before Jhulan Goswami carried out a late charge, smashing 46 runs off just 41 balls.

However, it was a case of too little too late and not enough to ensure an Indian victory.

The second match of the series will be played on Saturday.