Perryโs dismissal left the hosts reeling at 3-32 in the fourth over before Phoebe Litchfield and Ash Gardner steadied with a 31-run stand.
But Litchfield (26 from 17 balls) was caught in the deep from a switch-hit โ sheโs played a similar shot the ball before and smacked it for four โ to leave the hosts 4-63 in the ninth over.
The Australians were 4-78 at the midpoint and Gardner gave her side a sniff, making 57 from 45 balls before she too was caught in the deep.
Gardnerโs departure started another Australian slump of 4-15.
โWe actually thought we kept them to a good score, it was a pretty good wicket,โ Molineux said.
โWe just lost some pretty important wickets at the wrong point in time.โ
Australian keeper Beth Mooney completes the run out of Amanjot Kaur towards the end of Indiaโs innings.Credit: Getty Images
Earlier, Indian opener Smriti Mandhana top-scored with a superb 82 from 55 balls and featured in a 120-run partnership with No.3 Jemimah Rodrigues (59 from 46).
Australia struck early when quick Kim Garth (1-25) dismissed Shafali Verma (seven) in the third over.
Mandhana and Rodrigues then produced their fine stand, powering the tourists to 1-86 at the midpoint of their innings.
The partnership was finally broken in the 17th over when Mandhana lofted Annabel Sutherland (2-34) into the leg side only for Gardner to make swift ground from deep mid-wicket and take a catch on the run.
Jemimah Rodrigues celebrates after taking the outfield catch to dismiss Australiaโs top run-scorer, Ashleigh Gardner.Credit: Getty Images
The nations meet again on Tuesday in Brisbane for the first of three 50-over fixtures, ahead of a Test match starting March 6 at the WACA Ground in Perth.
Those matches will be the last for ex-Australian skipper Alyssa Healy before she retires.
โ(She) is going to bring an injection of some real excitement,โ Molineux said.
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โItโs going to be her last four games for Australia, and weโre going to do everything possible to send her off on the right note.
The trophy for the multi-format series is decided on a points system, with two points for each T20 and 50-over victory and four points for a Test triumph.
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