Courtesy: BCCI
Indian women’s cricket team created historic moment as they defeated the Australian women’s cricket team for the first time in a Test match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on December 24, 2023. Australia had a dominant outing on their India tour in 2023 where they emerged victorious in T20I and ODI series respectively. However, India had the last laugh as they registered a historic eight-wicket win over Australia in the one-off Test.
Talking about the match, Australia were bowled out for 219 in the first innings while batting first. The visitors got a poor start as they lost the first two wickets at the score of just seven runs. After that, Beth Mooney and Tahlia McGrath added 80 runs for the third wicket. Mooney scored 40(94) runs, while McGrath top scored with 50(56) runs. For India, Pooja Vastrakar took four wickets, Sneh Rana scalped three, while Deepti Sharma put two in her bag.
India defeated Australia in Test cricket for first time
In reply to Australia’s 219 runs in the first innings, India posted 406 runs, taking a lead of 187 runs. For Women in Blue, Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Varma put up an opening partnership of 90 runs. Shafali Verma got out after scoring 40(59) runs, while Smriti Mandhana scored 74(106) runs, Apart from that, Richa Ghosh (52 off 104), Jemimah Rodigues (73 off 121), and Deepti Sharma (78 off 171) also scored respective half-centuries, while Pooja Vastrakar contributed with 47(126).
In the second innings, Australia were bowled out for 261 runs, giving India a target of 75 runs to win. Sneh Rann took a four-wicket haul, Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Harmanpreet Kau took two wickets each, while Pooja Vastrakar put one in her bag. After that, Smriti Mandhana top scored with 38*(61) in the second innings as India chased the winning target in 18.4 overs, losing two wickets.
