(Cricket news) The legendary pink ball Test between India and Australia ended in a draw due to heavy rain and weather interruptions. It would be fair to say that India were the better team over the course of 4 days in the only Test. From a broader point of view the game suggests that there needs to be more Test cricket for the women. The match would've had a result if there was a 5th day which further ignites the debate of making Women's Test matches a 5-day affair.
Australian captain Meg Lanning once again won the toss and put India into bat first. India got off tooff to a great start thanks to their ever consistent opening pair of Shefali Verma and Smriti Mandhana. Smriti Mandhana scored her first Test century and also became the first Indian woman to score a Test century on Australian soil. All-rounder Deepti Sharma scored 66 runs down the order. India declared their innings at 377/8 on day 3. Ellyse Perry Sophie Molineux and Stella Campbell took 2 wickets each while Ashleigh Gardner picked up one.
With the massive lead India started very well with two early wickets from Jhulan Goswami. Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath scored half centuries. Meg Lanning, Alyssa Healy and Tahlia were the only other batter's to reach double digit scores. Every Indian bowler played their part as Pooja Vastrakar had three scalps to her name. Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh and Deepti Sharma picked up two wickets each. Meg Lanning made a bold decision of declaring the innings at 241/9. The decision came straight on the stroke of dinner while Australia were still trailing by 136 runs.
India came out to bat with intent as Shefali Verma scored a magnificent half century. Poonam Raut and Smriti Mandhana provided adequate support as India reached 135/3 when Mithali Raj declared the innings. Australia came out to bat with no chance of winning the game as Jhulan Goswami and Pooja Vastrakar picked up a wicket each before the match was called a draw. Smriti Mandhana was awarded the player of the match award for her century in the first innings which set the tone of the match. The two teams will now start preparing for the 3 T20Is.
