One-off day-night Test: Jhulan Goswami, Pooja Vastrakar strike big blows

Gold Coast: India dictated terms to mighty Australia who did everything they could to survive the difficult overs under lights and finish the third day of the rain-marred pink ball Test at 143 for four here on Saturday. At stumps, Australia trailed the visitors by 234 runs after veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami (2/27) bowled beautifully […]

Gold Coast: India dictated terms to mighty Australia who did everything they could to survive the difficult overs under lights and finish the third day of the rain-marred pink ball Test at 143 for four here on Saturday.

At stumps, Australia trailed the visitors by 234 runs after veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami (2/27) bowled beautifully and struck twice to leave them at 63 for two at one stage. India declared their first innings at 377 for eight.

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Mithali Raj’s side was lucky as the umpire gave Australian captain Meg Lanning (38) out wrongly, raising his finger despite an inside edge and bringing to an end her ominous stay in the middle. On that occasion, the lucky bowler was Pooja Vastrakar (2/31).

There was a fair bit of dew though and that obviously did not help the India bowlers, who kept things tight for a major part of the Australian innings. After Tahlia McGrath (28) hit Vastrakar’s wide and short delivery straight to Smriti Mandhana at point to leave the hosts at 119 for four, Goswami was brought back with two slips, a gully and a silly mid-off, but Ellyse Perry (27 batting) and Ashleigh Gardner (13 batting) survived.

Earlier, Goswami struck twice to reduce Australia to 69 for two at tea after India declared their first innings. India got the timing of declaration right considering that batting is most difficult in the second session of a day/night Test with pink ball owing to factors related to light.

Australia recovered nicely after losing Beth Mooney early as the duo of Alyssa Healy (29) and skipper Lanning not only steadied the ship but also played some exquisite shots.

However, shortly before the break, Goswami delivered for the visitors with her magnificent bowling. After softening Healy with a few short stuffs, Goswami bowled a length ball, got it to move just enough for the batter to nick it to the waiting hands of wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia.

Brief Scores: Indian Women: 377/8d in 145 overs (Deepti Sharma 66; Sophie Molineux 2/45, Stella Campbell 2/47, Ellyse Perry 2/76) vs Australia Women: 143/4 in 60 overs (Jhulan Goswami 2/27, Pooja Vastrakar 2/31).

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