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

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. 

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. 

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. 

India did not declare their second innings early and played for 37 overs.  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.