It had been three and a half years since Australia had played India in any format. While veteran Alex Blackwell knew India were dependable in one-dayers she assumed they still had much to make up in the shortest format - but had to think differently after they clearly "outplayed" the Southern Stars on Tuesday in chasing 141, to beat their previous record of 127.

"I think they're a much-improved side," said veteran Alex Blackwell.

"It seems that they've had a lot of focus on T20 cricket. I know they've been a tough outfit to play against in one-day cricket over the time I've been involved ... but maybe needed to address their approach to Twenty20 cricket."

Blackwell agreed that when the Southern Stars claimed their fourth wicket with the visitors still needing another 50 runs to win, and even when top-scorer Harmanpreet Kaur departed with eight runs still to get, they held hopes of victory based on their previous experience against India.

"I think it was impressive, the clean hitting throughout their order," she said. "There's a few small players in there, but they definitely use what they've got to their full advantage. They timed the ball beautifully."

Blackwell said the Southern Stars needed to be able to score more freely against India's spinners in the middle overs in Friday's second match of the series, to be played at 2.30pm at the MCG preceding the men's match. She also reckoned their seamers would be better and mixing up their pace and, particularly Ellyse Perry, use their bouncer more judiciously.

"I think they were in hittable areas. That's something we're going to need to address, making sure a bouncer is a true bouncer," she said.

One thing which did go well for Australia in the series opener was the form of debutant Beth Mooney. The 22-year-old wicketkeeper, playing as a specialist opening batter, scored a run-a-ball 36. She helped address one of the Southern Stars' flaws during last year's Ashes series: soaking up too many dots against the new ball.

"I thought Beth had a great debut. Her intent was excellent and her running between wickets was outstanding," Blackwell said. "She's really worked on her fitness and she's deserved that go at the top of the order."

AUSTRALIA (from): Meg Lanning (c), Alex Blackwell (vc), Lauren Cheatle, Sarah Coyte, Rene Farrell, Holly Ferling, Grace Harris, Alyssa Healy, Jess Jonassen, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Megan Schutt, Naomi Stalenberg.

INDIA (from): Mithali Raj (c), Jhulan Goswami (vc), Smriti Mandhana, MD Thirushkamini, Harmanpreet Kaur, Veda Krishnamurthy, Shikha Pandey, Niranjana Nagarajan, Sushma Verma, Ekta Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, VR Vanitha, Anuja Patil, Deepti Sharma.