CHENNAI: India women had to toil hard on a hot Friday at the WACA, Perth — first with the bat and then with the ball — as Australia took control of the proceedings on Day 1 of the only pink-ball Test. Asked to bat first by Australia skipper Alyssa Healy in her farewell international match, Jemimah Rodrigues played the lone fighting hand as her 84-ball 52 helped India get to 198 in the first innings. Later, under the lights, the visiting side made early inroads, especially debutants Sayali Satghare and Kranti Gaud moving the new ball, but Australia finished with 96/3 at stumps.
While adapting to the longest format — which women do not get to play as often — itself is a challenge, Harmanpreet Kaur and Co had to negate the pink ball upfront while fielding four debutants, including Pratika Rawal and Kashvee Gautam. And the lack of experience showed as India struggled to adapt to the extra bounce on offer at WACA. India's last Test match was in July 2024 against South Africa at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
They lost Smriti Mandhana early, but Shafali Verma and Rawal tried to build a partnership. However, they were undone by late movement and bounce, and soon Kaur was cleaned up by a Darcie Brown inswinger. Annabel Sutherland once again showed why she is rated so highly, taking four wickets. Rodrigues waged a lone battle, but India could not survive the day. "It was a bit challenging. I think it was, like I've played at the WACA before, but today was a bit like a spongy wicket," Rodrigues admitted later. "It was just to get used to the new ball and the pitch here in Perth because Perth has a little more bounce. And our sidearm specialists don't make it easy for us in the nets. Once you put yourself, for me personally, once I put myself in a challenging situation there, going out inside, I find it a lot easier. I'm more prepared. I'm more confident because I know how hard it is over here to face them. So I think basically that was my plan, just to get used to the conditions and make it a little more challenging so that I'm well-prepared for whatever is going to come in the match," she added.
Later with the ball, Satghare gave India hope by cleaning up Georgia Voll and soon Phoebe Litchfield followed suit. Healy's first innings plans were spoiled as she too fell before stumps for 13 off 27 balls. With Ellyse Perry still batting, India might have a long Saturday on cards, especially with the temperature expected to go further up. The visitors will rely on Deepti Sharma and Sneh Rana to give breakthroughs, but both Perry and Sutherland are known to tire out bowling attacks in this format.
Rodrigues, however, believed that both teams were still in the game. "I think both are equally in the game. I think even to get these three wickets was very crucial for us. Our pace bowlers really, really bowled well. And tomorrow will be very interesting to see how it's going to go. But yeah, we are ready with our plans. We are ready to take it on. We are here with the mindset to win this game and that's what we are going to do," she said.
Brief scores: India 198 in 62.4 ovs (Rodrigues 52; Sutherland 4/46) vs Australia 96/3 in 27 ovs (Perry 43 batting, Sayali 2/24).