One-Off Test: India Crush Australia By 8 Wickets
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-12-24 10:51:51
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
The Indian women's cricket team is on a roll. After crushing England a couple of weeks back by an astounding and all-time high margin of 347 runs, they lorded over the Australians for the last four days at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and finally beat them by 8 wickets on Sunday. In a show of exemplary teamwork, the Indian batters, bowlers and fielders all contributed in equal measure in the memorable win over the strongest and most successful team in the world.
Australia won the toss and decided to bat first. But apart from opener B Mooney (40), T McGrath (50), skipper A Healy (38) and a rearguard action by lower order batter K Garth (28), the Australian batters did not show application and could not build partnerships. They were bowled out for 219. For India, Pooja Vastrakar (4 for 53) and Sneh Rana (3 for 56) did the major damage while the hero of the Test against England, Deepti Sharma chipped in with 2 wickets for 45 runs.
When India batted, all top order batters, except Sneh Rana (9), captain Harmanpreet Kaur (0) and wicketkeeper Yashika Bhatia (1), fired. There were fifties from Smriti Mandhana (74), Richa Ghosh (52), Jerema Rodrigues (73) and Deepti Sharma (78) while opener S Verma (40) and Pooja Vastrakar (47) made valuable contributions. India scored 406, the first time it had crossed 400 against Australia, and got a valuable lead of 187 runs.
When the Australians batted for the second time, they showed better application and resistance. They also build partnerships. But first a brilliant run out by Richa Ghosh to end the resistance of opener B Mooney (33) and then the twin-strikes by captain Harmanpreet Kaur to dismiss T McGrath (73) and A Healy (32) just when it seemed they would take Australia to a fighting total, and regular wickets by Sneh Rana, derailed the Austrlians. They could score just 261 with Sneh Rana (4 for 64) being the most successful bowler. India had to get just 75 which they did without breaking sweat and won the match by 8 wickets. Smriti Mandhana remained not out on 38.
The team has shown that at home, it is a world beater. With class batters like Mandhana, Rodrigues and Kaur, quality spinners in Sneh Rana and R Gayakwad and brilliant all-rounders in Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar, they have the quality, balance and depth to excel. The BCCI should now seriously consider holding more Test matches. And the fans must come to cheer the team. Empty stadiums are demoralizing for the team when it so performing so well.
