As Australia returned to play Test cricket on Indian soil after 39 years, they were expecting a good start from their openers after Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to bat first. But the opposite happened. After a terrible mix-up with her opening partner Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield was run out for a diamond duck. She became the fourth opening batter in the history of women’s Test cricket to be dismissed run out for a duck and the first since 1961.
The first batter was England's Mary Taylor in 1937 against Australia. Two decades later, New Zealand's Joyce Powell suffered a similar fate against England. For Australia, the first batter was Kit Raymond in 1961 in the match against New Zealand.
The dismissal took place off the last ball of the first over bowled by Renuka Singh Thakur. Mooney went on the back foot to defend it. The ball went towards point. Jemimah Rodrigues came running and threw it to wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia. The 20-year-old who had hesitated in the middle of the pitch was nowhere in the frame as Bhatia removed the bails. She had to return to the dressing room without scoring a run or facing a ball in her first Test appearance away from home.
Four balls later, India struck again as Pooja Vastrakar brought the ball into the wicket and Ellyse Perry's bat was nowhere near to defend it. Australia lost two wickets for just seven runs.
However, they were able to recover from the early wickets with a partnership between Mooney and Tahlia McGrath. But Australia kept on losing wickets at regular intervals and were bowled out for 219 in 77.4 overs. McGrath was the top-scorer for Australia in the first innings with 50 runs off 56 balls. This was Australia’s lowest innings total in the format. Their previous lowest was 250 in Adelaide in 2006.
Before the one-off Test, Litchfield was in the news as she was picked for Rs 1 crore in the Women's Premier League (WPL) 2024 mini-auction by Gujarat Giants. In just five T20Is, she has proved her mettle. Scoring 99 runs from three innings, her strike rate of 220 has impressed many.
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