Opener's unbeaten 80 headlines rain-hit day
Timing the ball gloriously, the in-form Smriti Mandhana cracked an unbeaten 80 (144b, 15x4, 1x6)- her career-best and the highest Test score by an Indian batter in Australia - as the Indian women's team continued their impressive show Down Under.
On Day One of the historic pink-ball Test against Australia, which was heavily curtailed by thunderstorms and rain, India, after being asked to bat first, coasted to 132 for one at the Metricon Stadium in Gold Coast, thanks to Mandhana's effortless stroke play.
Following up on their 167-run opening stand against England in the one-off Test at Bristol a couple of months back, Mandhana and Shafali Verma (31, 64, 3x4) added 93 for the first wicket to provide India with a solid start, proving naysayers who expected Mithali Raj & Co to struggle against the pink ball wrong straight away.
Rain interrupted play with India at 114 for one, but Mandhana - who looks well-poised to score the first Test hundred by an India batter in Australia seemed unfazed by the break when she returned, pulling Tahilia McGrath for a six and a four, before the skies opened up again, cancelling play for the rest of the night for good.
Despite being guided by Aussie pace ace Mitchell Starc, who has joined their camp for this tour, the Oz pacers, particularly Ellyse Perry, either pitched too short or too full. That Australia failed to make any early inroads in India's batting must also owe largely due to their substandard fielding, which saw them drop Shafali thrice on 3, 19 and 25.
The first one was a tough chance to Aussie skipper Meg Lanning off Ellyse Perry. Lanning again dropped her at first slip off left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux, but the easiest of chances was put down by debutant Annabel Sutherland at mid-on off Molineux.
In a strange case of role reversal, Mandhana attacked right away, driving and pulling the ball with ridiculous ease, while Shafali was strangely subdued. Perhaps the 17-year-old was overawed by the occasion. When Shafali hit her first four in the 11th over, Mandhana had already smashed eight.
With Mandhana going all guns blazing, India smashed 16 fours in the first 16 overs of the match. The Aussies kept things tight in the second hour and reaped the reward when they dismissed Shafali, who was caught by McGrath at mid-on off Molineux.
Poonam Raut then did exactly what her counterpart at No. 3 in the India men's team, Cheteshwar Pujara, does. Blocking for most of the time, Raut (16* off 57 balls) gave ideal support to Mandhana.
BRIEF SCORES: India 132-1 (S Mandhana 80*) vs Australia
