Harmanpreet's golden arm sets up fascinating final day
Tahila McGrath scores her second fifty of the match but skipper Kaur's late wickets restore balance
On the field as a substitute, Harleen Deol was shining the ball vigorously as Rajeshwari Gayakwad walked to the top of her run-up. After toiling away for a couple of hours, India had finally broken Australia’s third-wicket partnership in the previous over. With their first innings lead quickly evaporating, the hosts were desperate to strike another blow as Harleen kissed the ball for good luck before tossing it to Rajeshwari.
In a way, that moment summed up the day. It was a day of attritional cricket, with the momentum shifting back and forth, as both teams worked tirelessly and tried everything under the scorching sun to get ahead.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Co had a lead of 157 runs at the start of Day 3 of the one-off Test against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium here on Saturday. But after another 97.3 overs of play, it was the Aussies who headed into the final day with a 46-run lead. Tahlia McGrath became the first visiting batter to register a half-century in both innings of a women’s Test in India, while skipper Harmanpreet provided a crucial double blow to bring her team back into the contest.
Since the start of the Test against England last week, one of the biggest positives for India was their bowling. They dismissed Heather Knight’s team cheaply in both innings and even wrapped up Australia’s first innings for a modest total. This time, however, they faced a real test. For the first time in the six days of cricket across the two games, India were made to grind.
After bagging the last three wickets of India’s first innings in the first half hour on Saturday, Australia got to 56/2 as openers Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield got out tp bizarre dismissals. While Mooney lost her bearings for a moment and strolled out of the crease to be run-out by Richa Ghosh from silly-point, Litchfield attempted an ill-advised reverse-sweep to be bowled by Sneh Rana.
From there, though, McGrath put together two potentially game-changing partnerships. Australia’s vice-captain first added 84 runs with Ellyse Perry and then 66 with skipper Alyssa Healy. Despite facing alien conditions in terms of Test cricket, the right-handers showcased all the tools required to thrive on an Indian turner.
Perry, who lasted just two deliveries in the first innings, used her feet wonderfully and showed her class to keep rotating the strike and pick the odd boundary. McGrath, meanwhile, scored a half-century in the first innings but had admitted later in the day that “it was crazy how much the game turned for me personally when spin came on.” This time, she complemented her strokeplay with great technique and temperament to score 73 runs off 177 balls.
“I guess we’ve just grown into this Test match a little bit and perhaps adjusted to the conditions as we’ve gone,” said Perry. “Today, we had a clear plan considering the position of the game. We wanted to bat for as long as we possibly could and just play what was in front of us, without thinking too much about what’s going to happen down the track. So, I thing having that focus on the present was really helpful for all of us. There were some really good patches and partnerships from us today, which was nice.”
Deepti Sharma added: “We were bowling in our areas but see, they have also come with bats in their hands and will play well at some stage. They didn’t play their aggressive game this time, like they did in the first innings. I think playing that way helps them a bit, because hitting the ball from the start is easy but also difficult at times. When a batter is aggressive, it also helps the bowler a bit. But they deserve credit because they played well.”
Australia may have made a match of it despite being in a massive hole at one stage, but India still have the edge heading into the final day. The hosts bowled 90 overs on Day 3 and hustled throughout to get breakthroughs. Spinners Rajeshwari, Deepti and Sneh Rana did the bulk of the bowling, with Harmanpreet’s dismissals of McGrath and Healy in the last session perhaps being a just reward for the team’s hard work.
With the second new ball just nine deliveries old, India will be keen to claim the remaining five wickets as quickly as possible. On the other hand, Australia, as Perry suggested, will be hoping to set a target of at least 200 runs. Either way, it promises to be another fascinating day of Test cricket.
Brief Scores: Australia 219 & 233/5 in 90 overs (T McGrath 73, H Kaur 2/23) India 406 in 126.3 overs (D Sharma 78, S Mandhana 74; A Gardner 4/100). Australia lead by 46 runs
