Cricket

India Women tour of Australia 2021 2021

Gold Coast, Sep 30 (PTI) Smriti Mandhana's career-best 80 not out had elegance written all over it as the Indian women's cricket team reached 132 for 1 at tea during a rain-hit stop-start second session on the first day of the one-off Day/Night Test against Australia here.Mandhana, who peppered the off-side field repeatedly with some gorgeous shots to reach 80 off 144 balls with 15 boundaries, added 93 for the opening stand with Shafali Verma (31 off 64 balls), who played the second fiddle during their partnership.&nbsp;Mandhana star of the rainy day Most of the second session's play was washed out but Mandhana added another 16 runs to surpass her previous best of 78. She pulled Tahlia McGrath for a six over deep square leg and also carted the same bowler over mid-wicket for a boundary. &nbsp;Giving her company is Punam Raut (16 batting, 57 balls) and they have added 39 runs for the unbroken second wicket stand.&nbsp;Australian team’s decision backfired them The Australian team's decision to field first after laying a green strip for the visitors did seem to have backfired as Mandhana attacked them straightaway during the first hour of play. In fact, it was a case of role reversal which perhaps caught the Australians off-guard as Shafali was more intent on playing a defensive game while her senior partner attacked with great gusto. Debutant Darcie Brown got some special punishment as Mandhana hit her for a number of boundaries both on the off-side as well as a few whip shots on the leg-side. Ellyse Perry also took a few overs to find the right length. The elegant Indian left-hander reached her run-a-ball fifty in no time with a cover drive of McGrath. Scores Day 1: India 1st Innings 132/1 in 44.1 overs (Smriti Mandhana 80 batting, Shafali Verma 31; Sophie Molineux 1/18) vs Australia.

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Mandhana shines on Day 1 as India play their first pink-ball Test

Mithali Raj-led India ended the 26-match unbeaten streak of Australia in ODIs that started in 2017. The visitors chased down the target of 265 in 49.3 overs with two wickets in hand to prevent a clean sweep in the three-ODI series. Earlier, Australian skipper Meg&nbsp;Lanning had won the toss and decided to bat first for the first time in the series. As it was dead-rubber, it was India's last chance to get the better of Australia, especially after the last-ball loss in the previous game.&nbsp;Australian battingWhile batting first, the host posted a challenging target of 264. Jhulan Goswami got rid of Australia’s top-order with the new ball. Goswami got the wickets of Rachel Haynes (13) followed by Lanning for a duck. In the process of weathering the storm, Alyssa Healy (35) also threw her wicket in form of a run-out. Things got critical for the Aussies after the departure of prolific all-rounder Ellyse Perry (26) who has not been in the best of forms of late.&nbsp;&nbsp;At one stage the hosts were 87-4, but, then Beth Mooney and Ashleigh Gardner took the charge. The duo put on a 98-run stand to bring Australia back on the track with respective half-centuries. On the score of 185, India got the much-needed breakthrough as Sneh Rana knocked out Mooney on the score of 52. Four overs later, Pooja Vastrakar also got her first wicket of the match when she dismissed Gardner for 67. Down the order, blinder from Tahlia McGrath (47 runs off 32 balls) empowered the Aussies to the challenging total of 264. For India, Goswami and Vastrakar were the pick of the bowlers. They took three wickets each conceding just 37 and 46 runs respectively.&nbsp;&nbsp;The Indian chaseChasing 265, India got off to a blistering start. Openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put on 59 runs for the first wicket. In the 11th over of the innings, Mandhana fell for 22 on Gardner’s delivery.<h2>Playing her debut ODI series, Yastika Bhatia carried on her good form and added a century-run stand with Verma, who got cleaned up by Sophie Molineux on the score of 56. Then, Annabel Sutherland got the wicket of Richa Ghosh for a duck. After scoring a fluent 64, Bhatia got out trying to accelerate as skipper Raj was struggling at the other end.</h2><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Later on, in her spell, Sutherland got rid of Vastrakar (3) followed by Raj (16) as India were reduced to 208 for six wickets. Some quick fireworks from Deepti Sharma (31) and Sneh Rana brought India back in the game. Rana scored a match-winning knock of 30 runs in just 27 deliveries but got out on the fourth ball of the penultimate over just when the visitors were at the doorstep of victory.</h2><h2>&nbsp;</h2><h2>Eventually, the match again went to the last over. This time, Goswami made up for the two no balls in the previous game's final over and finished it with a boundary to help India register their first win of the tour. The veteran was named player of the match for her all-round performance.</h2>

Women in blue put an end to Australia’s long-running winning streak in thrilling run chase

Australian all-rounder Ellyse Perry became the first woman cricketer to complete the double of 5,000 runs and 300 wickets across formats in international cricket on October 2. Perry achieved the unique feat with the wicket of India’s bowling all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar on Day 3 of the ongoing pink-ball Test at Carrara Oval, Queensland.&nbsp; Beth Mooney took a stunner at gully to help the 30-year-old dismiss Vastrakar in the 144th over of India’s first innings. Perry is currently the third-highest wicket-taker across formats behind India’s Jhulan Goswami (337 wickets) and England’s Kartherine Brunt (301 wickets). Perry has taken 31, 152 and 115 wickets in Tests, ODI and T20I format respectively. She has 651 runs in Test format, 3,135 runs in ODIs and 1,243 runs in T20Is.&nbsp; The Sydney-born cricketer took two wickets in India’s first innings including the wicket of in-form youngster Yastika Bhatia. At the end of Day 3’s play, the no.4 batter remained not out for 27 from 98 deliveries to prevent Indian bowlers from inflict more damage and take her team’s score to 143/4. Earlier, India declared after posting 377/8 after 145 overs. Opener Smriti Mandhana scored her maiden Test century (122) whereas Deepti Sharma contributed with a 66-run knock. The hosts still trail by 234 runs as the match is headed towards a draw until and unless Indian bowlers perform extraordinarily. Australia also need 85 more runs to avoid follow-on.

Ellyse Perry creates history, becomes first woman cricketer to complete double of 300 wickets, 5000 runs

In the post-match press conference after the conclusion of one-off pink-ball Test between Australia and Indian, skipper Mithali Raj came with a cheeky response when asked about the change in her call at the toss. Unlike former Indian men's captain MS Dhoni, Mithali has not been successful at winning tosses and is often made fun of by her teammates.&nbsp; “I didn’t want that to become a legacy. The way the girls have been pulling my leg for that! So I thought I should change. I really think I need to take a cue from MS Dhoni on how to win a toss,” she jokingly said at the presser. Despite losing the toss against Meg Lanning's side, the Indian team dominated the majority of the Test. The 38-year-old looked extremely pleased with her team's performance. Rain played a major role in the result of the match as India did not have enough overs to bowl out the home side. There was a chance that India would take a calculated risk and declare early, but the visitors decided against it.&nbsp; "It was a little tricky as to when we could declare. Getting eight wickets in 15 overs was a bit of a stretch," Mithali told when asked about a declaration. Still, the veteran termed this as the best Test match Indian women have ever played considering it was their first day-night Test match. She believes their performance was up to the mark and she will rank it higher than the Test they had won against England in their own backyard in 2014. "Against the best sides, definitely yes. (Against) Australia this is the best game we've played. But, in 2014, with eight debutants winning a Test in England against England, who had just won the Ashes. That was also very close. That was pretty great. The girls really put up a great show," she said.

Mithali Raj jokes about taking a cue from MS Dhoni to win the toss 

CARRA: The first T20I between Indian women and Australia Women has been abandoned due to rain. Harmanpreet Kaur-led India were put to bat first by the hosts and were on their way to set a big target before rain played spoilsport. The visitors scored 131 runs for the loss of four wickets in 15.2 overs and were looking to accelerate even further in the death overs but the rain gods had other plans. The heavy rainfall ensured that the match couldn’t be continued further.Jemimah Rodrigues, playing her first match of the tournament, was batting at 49 and missed out on her seventh T20I half-century.With the first T20I being washed out, the series is left with two more T20Is to play. The next two T20Is will be played on October 9 and October 10 at the same venue. Both the teams will be hoping for clear skies for the next two games of the multi-format series.

Jemimah Rodrigues misses out on 50 as INDW vs AUSW 1st T20I gets washed out due to rain

Indian opener Shafali Verma dropped a place to be second among batters while her compatriot Smriti Mandhana is static at the third position in the ICC Women's T20 rankings released on Tuesday.Verma has 726 rating points in her kitty while Mandhana has 709 points.Australia's Beth Mooney climbed a spot to top the chart with 754 points.The Australians dominate the ranking chart as besides Mooney, two other from the country -- skipper Meg Lanning and Alyssa Healy (6th) -- feature in the top 10.New Zealand's Sophie Devine and Suzie Bates are fifth and seventh respectively.After the first T20I against India was washed out, Mooney returned with scores of 34 and 61 as Australia emerged victorious in the multi-format series.Mooney was originally not part of the squad but came in as a replacement for Rachael Haynes, who had to bow out owing to an injury.Mooney's teammate Sophie Molineux too made significant gains in the latest rankings update, breaking into the top 10 for bowlers after climbing 12 spots to be placed at No. 9. Molineux scalped three wickets in the series at an economy of 5.60 that helped restrict India to below-par scores in the last two games.Among other Indians, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who ended up as the leading wicket-taker of the series with five wickets in two innings, rose to the 12th spot.Ashleigh Gardner broke into the top 10 to occupy the 10th spot in the all-rounders' list, thanks to her fine display with the ball that saw her finish the series as Australia's leading wicket-taker.Georgia Wareham, who finished with three wickets and 23 runs in the three games, jumped 14 spots to a career-high 48.&nbsp;

Verma drops a spot to 2nd, Mandhana static at 3rd in ICC T20 batters rankings

Gold Coast, Oct 2 (PTI) India medium-pacer Pooja Vastrakar on Saturday said it was important to come in with more intent on the final day of the pink-ball Test against Australia here and enforce the follow-on.Pooja, who picked up two wickets including the big one of Meg Lanning (for 38) and Jhulan Goswami (2/27) restricted Australia to 143 for 4 at stumps in response to India's first innings total of 377 for 8 declared.The hosts are still behind by 234 on the first innings and need 85 more runs to avoid the follow-on."If we have to win the match, we have to come with more intent tomorrow and try and break the partnerships and enforce the follow on," she said at a virtual media interaction at the end of the third day's play."It is not impossible. We will try. In two sessions we managed to get four wickets which was crucial. If the intent is there. anything can happen in the game of cricket," Vastrakar, who finished the day with 2 for 31 further said.Vastrakar got the wicket of opposition captain Meg Lanning, who was unlucky to be adjudged leg before as there was a big inside edge onto the pads.About bowling to Lanning, she said "I did not focus on the batter. I just focussed on my line and length." The 22-year old medium-pacer said it was a nice experience bowling with the pink ball under the lights."It was a nice experience bowling with the Pink Ball under the lights. Pink ball doesn't move as much as the red ball. Moves initially, but as it gets older it doesn't as much. Had fun bowling under the lights," she added.About the pitch, Vastrakar said it suited pacers a little more than the spinners, adding "the spinners were trying to keep it tight but the pacers were going for the wickets." Also, she said it was important to carry on the good work started by Jhulan and Meghna."My job was to stick to the right line and lengths and I got the results...," she added.Alyssa Healy wants DRS after Lanning howler Meanwhile, Australian batter Alyssa Healy said that presence of DRS can help get rid of umpiring howlers like the one that brought about her skipper Meg Lanning's downfall."Definitely, I wouldn't say no to DRS if it is available. I would love to see it in every Test match. It makes it fair and even and to take out the howler would be a nice thing." The Indian pacers' consistency surprised her and that they had been impressive."Their (Indian pacers) consistency has surprised me and has been impressive. It's great to see so many young Indian players getting an opportunity. We prepared for Shikha Pandey but she didn't even get a look in, which is a great sign for Indian cricket," the Aussie opener said."It was fun. Walking off isn't as fun, but the challenge was fun. Jhulan has gotten the better of me quite a few times. She's a world class bowler and has been throughout her career. She gets that extra bit of bounce. Challenging especially after 140 overs in the field," she added.Healy hoped Ellyse Perry, who is batting on 27 would bat for all the 108 overs available on Sunday."Perry and McGrath out there together calmed the dressing room together. Perry is unbeaten. Hope she bats for 108 overs," she said with a smile.&nbsp;

Need to come out with more intent, says Puja; Healy wants DRS after Lanning howler

Punam Raut displayed true ‘spirit of cricket’ as she decided to walk off the field despite the umpire’s not out decision. On Day 2 of India women’s first-ever pink-ball Test against Australia, Raut edged it to the wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy. Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux and close-in fielders appealed but the umpire did not seem to pick the faint edge and shook his head. Molineux looked disappointed with the decision and by the time she turned towards Raut, she was already walking back to the pavilion.&nbsp; The right-handed batter was applauded for her decision in the dugout and the spectators. Had Raut not walked off the field, the decision would have stood because no DRS is available in the one-off Test. Smriti Mandhana revealed&nbsp; "At first our reaction was, 'oh why did she do that, was there an edge?' But yeah, it's [sportsmanship] something we respect a lot. She's earned a lot of respect for actually walking out," said Smriti Mandhana at the end of the yet another rain-interrupted day. "I don't know how many people will actually do that in cricket at the moment, men's or women's if there's no DRS. Nowadays people walk out because there's DRS, but to walk off when there is no DRS - I don't know [how many would]. Definitely, she's earned a lot of respect from all of us for doing that," she added. Australia’s star all-rounder Ellyse Perry too acknowledged Raut’s bold decision. "That's very much at her discretion whether or not she wanted to walk. She did, so I suppose from our point of view, it was just acknowledging that but beside that there wasn't too much conversation about it," Perry said. Australia’s Beth Mooney too was asked the question whether she would walk off if the umpire has not given her out, to which she said “no chance”. The no.3 batter scored 36 runs from 165 deliveries. The 31-year-old shared a 102-run partnership with centurion Smriti Mandhana. She departed just two balls before skipper Meg Lanning opted for the new ball.&nbsp;

'She's earned a lot of respect for actually walking out': Mandhana on Raut's bold decision

It was the kind of game where even after more than seven hours of play, all boiled down to final ball to decide the winner. In the end, it was the Australian team that showed immense levels of composure to seal the win and continue their unbeaten run of 26 ODIs. The narrow win by five wickets helped hosts take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-ODI series.&nbsp;The long last overThe experienced campaigner and the leading wicket-taker in the format, Jhulan Goswami was trusted with the task of defending 13 runs in the last over against well-settled batters Beth Mooney and Nicola Carey. Mithali Raj closed the field on the off-side with most of the fielders inside the 30-yard circle and on the leg side, fielders were patrolling the boundary. The Indian side showed inexperience in the crunch situation as young wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh gave an extra run trying to run out Carey when she was comfortably in the crease completing a couple of runs.&nbsp;&nbsp;While Indian fielders were not fast enough to get to the ball and throw it accurately at the stumps, Goswami struggled to grip the ball and bowled a beamer while trying to land the perfect &nbsp;yorker. The beamer hit Carey straight on the helmet and cost India extra runs. With three runs needed off the final delivery, Goswami bowled another high full toss that found the fielder at the square leg. India were already celebrating their two-run win believing that they had put an end to Australia’s unbeaten run. However, the replay on the big screen showed that the game was not finished yet.&nbsp;The umpire signalled no ball. The no ball call can be debated as Carey was crouching and the ball was dipping on her. Nevertheless, it was a no ball and since the batters had not crossed, they needed two runs off the final delivery to win the match. For the final delivery, Goswami should not be blamed as Indian fielders seemed too tired to produce a run out and take the game into super over. In the end, Mooney was quick to complete two runs to deny India a win to draw the series despite batting for over three hours.&nbsp;&nbsp;Missed chancesIndia should have clearly nipped this in the bud and won the match by a comfortable margin after reducing the hosts to 52 for four wickets in the massive run chase. In the 33rd over, Goswami dropped an easy catch of Tahlia McGrath. The Australian all-rounder was batting on 57 at that point and Australia were just beginning to accelerate and play catch-up with the required run rate. In the 45th over, the 17-year-old Ghosh missed a simple stumping chance to get rid of Nicola who was way out of the crease. The Aussie was batting on 24 at that point. A wicket here would have put more pressure on Mooney as she would have to do the bulk of scoring.&nbsp;&nbsp;In the 47th over of the runchase, the boundaries had dried up and Deepti Sharma failed to collect the ball cleanly and gave Carey another chance. In the penultimate over, Jemimah Rodrigues at deep mid-wicket misjudged the trajectory of the ball and missed a chance to dismiss the Aussie opener. The on-field umpiring in the game was not top-notch either. In the same over as the run out chance, Rajeshwari Gayakwad trapped Carey in front of the wickets but the umpire ruled in favour of the hosts and denied India a much-needed wicket.&nbsp;Mooney, McGrath revive run chaseIt was an uphill task for the two batsmen after a terrible start to the run chase of 275. The dropped catches and missed run out chances helped the duo but they paced their innings well and picked out bowlers to attack. When the boundaries were hard to come by, they used the big boundaries and ran hard between the wickets to put pressure on the fielders. They shared a 126-run partnership for the fifth wicket to bring Australia back in the game. &nbsp;While McGrath got out after scoring 77 runs from 79 deliveries, Mooney went on to score her second ODI century. She scored an unbeaten 125 off 133 deliveries including 12 boundaries. In the end, she had support from Carey as well. The bowling all-rounder attacked and scored unbeaten 39 runs with a strike rate just over 100 including two boundaries. &nbsp;&nbsp; Mandhana back in formSmriti Mandhana missed her century but laid the foundation that helped India post a big total. Mandhana got India off to a flier with 74-run partnership for the first wicket with Shafali Verma. The runs kept coming off Mandhana’s bat despite the wickets of skipper Mithali Raj and Yastika Bhatia for respective single-digit scores. Mandhana scored 86 runs from 94 deliveries including 11 boundaries.&nbsp;Playing her second ODI, Ghosh impressed with her hard-hitting skills. She hit the only six of the match during her 44-run knock. Cameos from Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar and Goswami too helped India post a challenging total on the board. Goswami was the only batter in the Indian side who had a strike rate over 100 with her 25-ball 28 including three boundaries.

Agonising last-ball defeat for India after no-ball drama as Australia continues unbeaten run

Australian women team's pace bowling all-rounder Nicola Carey looks up to Jhulan Goswami and would like to bowl yorkers like the legendary India seamer."She is extremely impressive, she was really good up-front with the new ball throughout the whole three WODIs, taking some really key wickets for India there," Goswami told select Indian journalists during an interaction."And then she comes back at the death with those yorkers. I want to bowl yorkers like Goswami because she was very impressive there at the back-end. She had an amazing career and still (is) doing what she is doing, it is pretty impressive and ya I still want to bowl yorkers like Goswami, that is my goal," quipped the 28-year-old Carey.Goswami in her over 15-year career, has played 11 women's test, a staggering 192 ODIs and 68 T20s, having scalped 41, 240 and 56 wickets respectively.Carey, who has played 20 WODIs and 18 WT20s and is yet to wear the whites, also described the Indian batting line up as a "dangerous" one."They (Indian players) are incredible players. Mithali Raj is an experienced campaigner, scored truck loads of runs, a really committable batting line-up, so they are sort of dangerous in different ways, so we have got our plans to (for) them."And as you mentioned the pink ball coming up is a little-bit different. Test match cricket they will probably come out playing a little bit differently,” she said.&nbsp;

Nicola Carey wants to bowl yorkers like Jhulan Goswami

(New Delhi) Meg Lanning-led Australia Women have won the three-match T20I series with a comfortable 14-run win in the last math of the series. India Women were not upto the mark chasing a target of 150 and fell well short of it as they failed to keep up with the required run rate.&nbsp;&nbsp;Off-track run chaseThe run chase was never on the right track as India were going with less than six runs per over for a better part of the innings. Opener Shafali Verma’s wicket early in the powerplay overs did not do them any good. The second-wicket partnership between Smriti Mandhana and Jemimah Rodrigues lacked acceleration. Rodrigues was not able to replicate what she did in the first T20I and succumbed to the scoreboard pressure in the 11th over. Mandhana continued but did not have much support from other end where skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was batting.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mandhana got out in the 15th over when the equation had almost gone out of hand. The left-handed opener scored 52 runs from 49 deliveries. Pooja Vastrakar was promoted up the order but got out after scoring a boundary. Richa Ghosh’s burst of boundaries came too late in the run chase to stage a comeback. Ghosh punished Nicola Carey in the final over hitting two sixes and a four off the over. Ghosh remained unbeaten for 11-ball 23 with Deepti Sharma on the other end.&nbsp;&nbsp;Mooney, McGrath take the game wayAsked to bat first, Australia’s innings got off to a similar start losing opener Alyssa Healy early on. Beth Mooney did the bulk of scoring from one end while wickets kept falling at the other until Tahlia McGrath came in to bat. The two in-form batters shared a crucial 44-run partnership for the fifth wicket. Mooney got out after scoring 61 runs from 43 balls whereas McGrath remained not out for 31-ball 44. In death overs, McGrath had support from new batter Georgia Wareham as well as the hosts posted a challenging total of 149/5. For India, Harmanpreet and Rajeshwari Gayakwad leaked runs but the latter picked up two wickets as well.&nbsp;&nbsp;Tour ends with a lossThere were few impressive individual performances from the Indian contingent but they managed to win only one match on the tour. India pulled off a great comeback to pull off high-scoring run chase in the third ODI. However, India have been close to winning on a couple of occasions. India lost the second ODI off last ball and dominated most number of sessions in their first-ever pink-ball match which was interrupted by rain on multiple occasions. India were also on their way to post a big first-inning total in first T20I but rain played a spoilsport again.&nbsp; India will be preparing for the T20 World Cup next year. No series have been announced yet between this period but the team will required game practice to be ready for the mega event after reaching the finals last time.&nbsp;

India Women falter in run chase despite Mandhana's fifty, end Australia tour with another loss

After the first T20I was washed out due to rain, India women and Australia women locked horns again in another thriller of a low-scoring game. There were no rain interruptions this time and nder the clear skies, Australian captain Meg Lanning won the toss and decided to bowl first. Like the last game, everyone expected Indian batters to put on a good competitive score but due to a batting collapse they managed to put only 118 runs on the board for the loss of 9 wickets. The target was small but Indian bowlers turned the game around. Before the last few overs, the match was evenly poised between the two teams but all-rounder Tahlia McGrath held her nerves to guide the hosts over the line.&nbsp;Indian bowlers put up a fight To defend a small target of 119, Indian bowlers put on a strong fight. On a pitch that assisted the bowlers, Indian bowlers kept it tight. First, Shikha Pandey got rid of opener Alyssa Healy with the inswing of the century contender. India’s left-arm orthodox spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad broke the second-wicket partnership and sent skipper Lanning and opener Beth Mooney back to the pavillion. &nbsp;Later, Gayakwad got another wicket in the form of Nicola Carey. She ended her quota of four overs by picking three wickets and giving only 21 runs.Other Indian bowlers too didn't allow the Australian batters to settle and finish the run chase early. At one stage, Australia were six down for 94 and it looked like India will manage to pull off a victory out of nowhere. But, in the end, their efforts were cut short by Australian lower middle-order batters, especially McGrath. The all-rounder remained not out for 42 off 33 deliveries taking her team home. Once again, Indian fielding was sloppy and gave Australia enough chances to stay in the game.&nbsp;Dreadful batting collapse&nbsp; Invited to bat first, the Indian batting order struggled right from the start of their innings. In-form Indian openers Smriti Mandhana and Shefali Verma could only add five runs on the board. Mandhana lost her wicket in the first over itself and Shafali joined her back in the dugout in the third over. Jemimah Rodrigues, the star batter of the rain-marred first T20I was expected to get the team out of danger but she fell in the sixth over as Australian kept the run rate in check. India had only 24 runs on the board with their top order sitting in the pavilion.From here Indian captain Harmanpreet Kaur along with Yastika Bhatia tried to do damage control but the partnership was broke after adding 26 runs more on the scoreboard. India lost Harman Preet on a score of 50 and what followed was a collapse of Indian batters. After Harmanpreet got out after scoring 28, India's batting collapsed. Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, and the tailenders couldn't contribute much to the team's tally as India were reduced to 81/9 in the 17th over. Pooja Vastrakar rescued India's first innings with an unbeaten 37 off 26 balls. Vastrakar's valiant cameo included three fours and two sixes. Her innings prevented India from getting bundled out below 100 and post 118/9 on the board.

Indian bowlers star in low-scoring defeat in second T20I

India women’s first pink-ball Test against Australia women at Carrara Oval, Queensland ended in a draw on October 3. The pink-ball Test majorly dominated by Mithai Raj-led India was interrupted by rain on first two days.&nbsp; A total of 101.2 overs were bowled on the first two days as India piled on runs after they were asked to bat first by hosts’ skipper Meg Lanning. Chasing a total of 268, Australia managed to post 36 for the loss of two wickets in 15 overs. The two captains shook hands as there were not enough overs to get a result.&nbsp; Earlier, batting first, India posted a mammoth total of 377/8 on the board. Mithali declared the innings on Day 3 after the team played 145 overs. Opener Smriti Mandhana scored her maiden Test century. Mandhana also became the first Indian woman batter to score a Test century in Australia. The left-handed batter scored 127 runs from 216 deliveries including 22 fours and one six. She was adjudged ‘player of the match’ for her outstanding batting on pink-ball Test debut. Deepti Sharma also scored a half-century and helped India get the score past 300 batting with the lower order. Australia escaped follow-on in their first innings as half-centuries from Ellyse Perry and Ashleigh Gardner. Perry remained not out for 68 from 203 balls whereas Gardner scored 51. Australia declared their first innings for 241/9 after avoiding follow-on. Pooja Vastrakar took three wickets whereas Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh and Deepti took two wickets each.&nbsp; India did not declare their second innings early and played for 37 overs. &nbsp;Shafali Verma scored a half-century whereas Punam Raut remained unbeaten for 41 as India posted 135/3 in the second innings. In Australia’s second innings Goswami and Vastrakar took one wicket each but India did not have enough overs to bowl them out as Mithali pointed out in the post-match presentation. However, had she declared the second innings earlier, Indian bowlers would have had more overs to bowl them out. After the draw in one-off Test, Australia lead the limited-overs series by 6-4. Now, the two teams will lock horns in the three-match T20I series. It will be interesting to see if an injured Harmanpreet Kaur recovers from her injury in time for the first T20I at the same venue as the Test.

Mithali Raj-led India's first pink-ball Test ends in a draw as Australia evade follow-on

Gold Coast, Oct 3 Opener Smriti Mandhana on Sunday said luck favoured her to create history as she became the first Indian woman to score a century in a pink ball Test and that too on the Australian soil for the maiden time in the just-concluded lone Day-Night Test here.Mandhana, who scored 127 off 216 balls in India's first innings score of 377 for 8 declared, survived at the personal score of 80 when she sliced a full Ellyse Perry delivery straight to Beth Mooney at point but the bowler overstepped giving southpaw a much-needed reprieve."Lucky with that no-ball on 80. That sort of cleared my mind after that I've got a chance I've to make it count," Mandhana said after the match ended in a draw due to inclement weather during the first two days of the four-day game.Mandhana rated her innings in the top three in her career so far."It's definitely in the top three (asked to rate this hundred). First time playing a day-night Test, really happy that I gave good pace (start) to the team. Most nervous night I have ever had - after the first day," she said.The left-handed batter said it was a privilege for her to represent India in Test cricket."To wear whites and go into the field is the top-most thing." India women will now play Australia women in the three-match T20 series starting October 7."We just have three days before the T20s. Rest for a day and get back to business with the T20s coming up," Mandhana said.&nbsp;&nbsp;

I was lucky with that no ball on 80, says Mandhana

After their first-ever pink-ball Test, India are ready to take on Australia in the shortest format of the game. In terms of points, Australia lead the series by 6-4 and visitors India have a chance to cash in on the momentum they have gained from previous two games. It has been a pretty competitive affair so far. The first ODI was the only one-sided game of the tour and it was followed by a last-ball thriller and an epic run chase by India. In the pink-ball Test, India dominated for the better part of the four-day affair and were almost hard done by rain on the first two days.&nbsp; India’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur will be playing her first match of the tour as she was ruled out of ODI series and one-off Test due to thumb injury. Harmanpreet has a good record against Australia and the batting-friendly pitches will suit her batting style.&nbsp; Shikha Pandey will be leading the pace attack in the absence of retired Jhulan Goswami. With the kind of performances with bat and ball Goswami delivered in the last two ODIs, it feels as if maybe she retired too early from the T20 format as she can score quick runs lower down the order and a frontline bowler. Pandey, on the other hand, will be playing her first game on the tour as she was warming the benches. Jemimah Rodrigues is also likely to feature in the T20I lineup after her outstanding performance for Northern Superchargers scoring 241 runs from five games including three half-centuries in the inaugural season of The Hundred.&nbsp; On the other hand, it will be interesting to see if Yastika Bhatia gets her debut cap in T20Is as well. Bhatia scored a game-changing 64 in the third ODI giving India a chance in the run chase. With the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Richa Ghosh in form, we may see a high-scoring game at Carrara Oval, Queensland. For Australia, the player of the bilateral series will be all-rounder Tahlia McGrath. She scored 121 runs from two ODI innings and picked up four wickets in the ODI series. Nicola Carey too is on the verge of comeback after her performance with the ball and in the second ODI run chase.&nbsp; For both teams, there will be a problem of plenty when they select the team for the first T20I. We may see a few debut caps getting handed to the players on the basis of performances in ODI series.&nbsp;

INDW vs AUSW 1st T20I Preview: Harmanpreet Kaur returns after injury to lead a charged-up side

Veteran Indian women's team pacer Jhulan Goswami on Sunday said she was glad to have stood up for the side after the narrow loss in the second ODI against Australia by being a major contributor to the consolation win in the final match here.Goswami returned with figures of 3/37 from her 10 overs to play a big role in India's win in the third and final ODI. She was adjudged player of the match for her performance. The 38-year-old also hit the winning four that ended Australia's 26-match unbeaten streak."We were just trying to stay there and finish the game. On Friday, it was difficult for bowlers and today as the senior bowler I wanted to stand up and use the new ball well," Goswami said after the match in which India chased down a highest over 265 for the win."I knew I could get breakthroughs. That was what I did. It's important to give your best in the field, take positives and that's what I want to do as a senior."Lots of soreness in my body having played back-to-back games, need time to recover, but we're looking forward to be a part of the first-ever pink-ball Test," she added.India lost the three-match series 1-2.Two no balls by Goswami became a prime reason for India's loss in the second ODI On Friday. Her second no ball was to be the final delivery of the match with Australia in need of three runs.That illegitimate delivery put paid to India's chances as the eventual last ball was sent towards wide long-on for two runs by the Australians to seal the series.India captain Mithali Raj expressed happiness that Australia's 26-match winning streak was ended by her side."We are very happy. I was just telling the girls, Australia's winning streak started against India in India in 2018 so now we are the ones who broke that streak," she said."It's good to have some depth in the batting order. Deepti scoing runs and of course Yastika's partnership with Shafali was very important. And Sneh Rana's cameo was very important for the team."I think the last game gave us confidence going into today's encounter (in terms of putting a score on the board)," she added.Australia captain Meg Lanning said her side had chances to win the match but could not take them at important moments."Credit to India. I thought they came out really well with the ball and kept fighting with the bat so they deserved to win," she said.&nbsp;

Wanted to stand up as a senior: Jhulan Goswami

Australia women cricket team’s in-form spinner Sophie Molineux showed tremendous courage and grit despite a freak injury during third ODI of the series. Molineux got injured on the last ball of the 39th over while trying to catch a throw from Stella Campbell. The awkward bounce of the throw took the Aussie by surprise as the ball hit her on the mouth.&nbsp;&nbsp;Moments after the impact on lip, blood was gushing out of the 23-year-old’s mouth. She was taken off the field by the support staff. Even when she was walking off the field, there was blood on her jersey. After seeing the visuals, many expected that she would not return to the field and Australia have lost their most economical bowler.&nbsp;&nbsp;Wounded not in spirit&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;To everyone’s surprise Molineux returned to the field with a bandage on her mouth in just few overs. She bowled her heart out in the first over she bowled after the injury but did not get a wicket. She dropped off her own bowling and then Nicola Carey dropped an easy one at square leg.&nbsp;&nbsp;After Rana’s hat-trick of boundaries, Molineux was once again thrown the ball. With 10 runs needed off last three overs, she helped Australia stay in the match by giving just two runs in the four overs. In the last over, she targeted new batter Meghna Singh but Jhulan Goswami finished the run chase with a boundary with three balls to spare. She finished with 41 runs from 9.3 overs including the wicket of opener Shafali Verma.&nbsp;

Courageous Sophie Molineux returns to field after freak injury

India's star batter Harmanpreet Kaur has been ruled out of the second ODI against Australia&nbsp;on September 24&nbsp;to be played at Ray Mitchell Oval, Harrup Park. India’s batting coach Shiv Sunder Das during the pre-match press-conference confirmed that the middle-order batter is still not fit and hence will not be available for the second ODI.&nbsp;“I think right now she is not fit and I think she is not available for the next game,” Das told the media.&nbsp;The hosts had walloped the visitors by nine wickets in the first ODI of the three-match series, which was played at the same venue on Tuesday. India managed to post a total of 225 for 8 when asked to bat first.&nbsp;Replacing Harmanpreet in the squad, Yastika Bhatia impressed with the bat at No.3. However, she failed to convert it into a big score and departed after scoring 35 runs from 51 deliveries.&nbsp;&nbsp;Skipper Mithali Raj scored the sole half-century to reach 20,000 career runs. Her strike rate was questioned as she scored 63 runs from 107 deliveries.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Australia chased down the total with nine overs to spare to take 1-0 lead in the series. Rachel Haynes and Alyssa Healy shared a 126-run opening partnership. Healy departed after scoring 77 whereas Haynes went on to score an unbeaten 93. The left-handed batter also shared an unbeaten 101-run partnership for the second wicket with skipper Meg Lanning, who scored 53 runs from 69 deliveries.

Harmanpreet Kaur remains unfit for 2nd ODI in Australia

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