After a few stumbles, India finally take charge on Day 2
It seems like the hosts had let slip their advantage but Deepti and Vastrakar guided India to a dominant position
It was the 12th over of the day when something rather strange happened. Tahlia McGrath, standing at mid-off, misfielded twice to concede boundaries. They were tossed-up deliveries by Ash Gardner which Smriti Mandhana drove along the ground and on both occasions, Australia’s vice-captain couldn’t get down quickly enough. It isn’t every day you see a rookie mistake of that sort, let alone off consecutive balls. And thus began a day of missed opportunities for both teams.
India started Day 2 of the one-off Test against Australia, at the Wankhede Stadium here on Friday, trailing by 121 runs in the first innings. They batted impressively as a unit and managed to reach 376/7 at stumps, with a lead of 157 runs and a first Test victory against the mighty Aussies in sight.
There were three fifty-plus knocks that weren’t converted into three-figures scores, two catches that weren’t taken, a number of misfields, and a marathon spell. During two phases, the hosts failed to press home the advantage and bury the visitors. And in the end, it came down to another gritty performance by Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar to guide India to a dominant position.
Smriti was unbeaten on 43 overnight. The left-hander, who had scored one half-century in 15 international innings since February, seemed determined to get a big one and had batted for hours in each of India’s two practice sessions leading up to the game. She hardly raised her bat when she got to fifty and looked set to bring up her second Test ton. But batting on 74, she hesitated in running a single and was run-out by a slim margin.
India were 147/3 at that stage, with Sneh Rana back in the hut as well, and relied on a 113-run partnership between Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh to pull ahead. Jemimah, playing her second Test, showed maturity beyond her years once again to register another half-century. The 23-year-old used the sweep shot to great effect and kept the scoreboard ticking to ensure Australia remained under pressure.
Richa, on debut, got a reprieve when she was batting on 14 as Ellyse Perry dropped a sitter at mid-off. But the 20-year-old composed herself nicely to mix caution with aggression and bring up a half-century in her first Test innings.
However, like Smriti, neither Jemimah nor Richa managed to kick on and get a century. Richa got a third life thanks to Perry, who misjudged another straightforward catch at mid-on, but attempted a big shot three balls later and was caught in the deep. That dismissal allowed Australia back into the contest as skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Yastika Bhatia were trapped in front by Gardner within the next three overs. And to complete the mini collapse soon after, Jemimah played an aerial drive to get caught at cover.
India had lost four wickets for just 14 runs and were leading by 55 with three wickets in hand. The match was delicately poised at that stage. Had Australia wrapped up the innings quickly from there, India, who have to bat fourth on a what’s a challenging pitch, would have found themselves in a spot of bother.
Butcrick. The duo put together an unbeaten partnership of 102 runs for the eighth wicket to deflate the Australian players. Deepti, who had scored a 67 and taken nine wickets in the Test against England last week, showed yet again how valuable she is to this team. The 26-year-old now has a half-century in each of the four Tests she’s competed in. Pooja, meanwhile, is yet to be dismissed since the start of the England Test and backed up her superb bowling spell with a composed knock.
For Australia, off-spinner Gardner bowled 41 overs – more than one-third of the total number of overs in the innings – and did well to return with four wickets.
“Ash was having a pretty good impact out there,” said Australia coach Shelley Nitschke. “We felt she was always in the game. She played a big part in the previous Test match as well. It was not a plan that she would bowl that many overs, it was just about the way the day played out how she was bowling and creating opportunities. It just seemed right to keep her going and bring her back at different phases where we thought she could have an impact. More the way the game played out than anything.”
