Indian bowlers put on a spirited display on Day 3 to put the visitors in control in the one-off pink-ball Test against Australia here at the Carrara Oval on Saturday.
At stumps, Australia’s score read 143/4 after 60 overs in their first innings — trailing the visitors by 234 runs with six wickets in the bag.
Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner were unbeaten on 27 and 13 respectively. The Aussies are still 85 runs behind the follow-on target.
The third day started with India adding 101 runs to their overnight score in the first session (thanks mainly to Deepti Sharma’s 66) and the visitors declared shortly after the dinner break. From there it was all about the veteran Jhulan Goswami. The experienced campaigner thrived with the pink ball under lights.
Dismissing both openers, Jhulan (2-27) led the way for India, before Pooja Vastrakar (2-26) followed her lead, showing excellent control throughout an extended spell. Both finished the day with an economy rate of fewer than two runs per over.
Resuming the third session on 69/2, the Aussies moved with caution as Lanning and Perry gathered 11 runs in the first seven overs of the session.
However, in the 32nd over of the innings, Pooja Vastrakar struck to get the big wicket of the Australian captain. Lanning was given LBW after the ball nipped back late and tapped her bang on the pads. But replays suggested there was a slight inside edge. Lanning was not happy but there is no DRS in this Test match.
Tahlia McGrath then joined Perry in the middle and steadied the ship for hosts. Australia crossed the 100 runs mark in the 42nd over of the match.
With the stand between both Aussie players going strong, Vastrakar struck again in the 50th over as she sent back Tahlia McGrath. The Australian walked back to the dressing room after scoring 28 off 68 balls.
Ashleigh Gardner then joined Perry on the pitch as the Aussie duo ensured no more wickets fell for the hosts on a penultimate day.
Brief Scores: India 377/8 d (Smriti Mandhana 127, Deepti Sharma 66; Sophie Molineux 2-45) vs Australia 143/4 (Meg Lanning 38, Alyssa Healy 29; Jhulan Goswami 2-27, Pooja Vastrakar 2-31).
