MUMBAI: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s late show in the final session of Day 3 put India in a commanding position against Australia in the one-off Test on Saturday here at Wankhede Stadium.
At the time of stumps, Australia’s score read 233/5 — lead by 46 runs — with Annabel Sutherland (12 and Ashleigh Gardner (7) unbeaten at the crease. India led by 187 runs in the first innings, and Australia lost five wickets for 233 in their second innings leading by a narrow 46 runs.
Tahlia McGrath and Ellyse Perry led the fightback against India and wiped out a chunk of the deficit quickly. Starting the tea session, Ellyse Perry led the charge with Tahlia McGrath with a cautious approach. Perry fell five short of a half-ton. She was removed by Sneh Rana, who also ended an 84-run partnership between Perry and McGrath.
In the last session, Tahlia McGrath dug deep to slam her 3rd Test half-century. Australia had a modest advantage in the game when McGrath and captain Alyssa Healy scored 66 runs for the fourth wicket. However, Harmanpreet changed the tide at Wankhede by removing McGrath and Healy, which was a late move.
Healy added 32 runs, and McGrath achieved her highest Test score of 73 runs off 177 balls. On Day 3, umpires declared stumps after Australia amassed 233/5 in 90 overs, with Gardner and Sutherland staying in the middle.
Earlier, Harmanpreet Kaur’s side posted, 406/10. The Australian bowling attack picked up three quick wickets to end India’s first inning of the Test match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Annabel Sutherland bagged two wickets, dismissing Pooja Vastrakar (47 runs from 126 balls) and Renuka Singh (8 runs from 9 balls). While Kim Garth picked up a crucial wicket of Deepti Sharma (78 runs from 171 balls) from the crease.
On the other hand, the Aussie openers Beth Mooney (33 runs from 37 balls) and Phoebe Litchfield (18 runs from 44 balls) could not stay long on the crease at the start of their second inning. Mooney was run out by Richa Ghosh in the 12th over. While Sneh Rana removed Litchfield in the 14th over.
However, Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath are currently on the crease to lead the Aussie batting lineup in their second inning and took the visitors to 63/2 at lunch.
On Friday, India put up a total of 376/7 with Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar unbeaten with scores of 70(147)* and 33(115)* respectively. Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh dominated Australian bowlers with the bat, while Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar chipped in at the end to further bolster the position of the hosts on a tricky surface.
Brief score: Australia 219 & 233/5 (Tahlia McGrath 77, Ellyse Perry 45; Harmanpreet Kaur 2-23) vs India 406 (Jemimah Rodrigues 73, Deepti Sharma 78; Ashleigh Gardner 4-100). (ANI)