Key events
Australia wins the multi-format series 12-4
Megan Maurice
Despite the final score in the series appearing a bit lopsided, it has been enthralling from the start. India showed what they can do in the T20 leg, giving Australia a bit of a shock by winning that T20 series two games to one. But Australia were dominant in the ODI series and got their campaign back on track. Having Healy back in the driver’s seat as captain seemed to make a difference, just steadying the ship and reminding them what they wanted to achieve.
While the Test ended well inside three days and it would have been more exciting to have it push into the fourth day and be more of a contest, but getting a result in women’s Tests is always great, considering most are only allocated four days. It’s clear both teams value Test cricket so highly and love to play them and they were always chasing a win.
The match showcased the ongoing rise of Annabel Sutherland in Test matches. While Ellyse Perry racked up the highest number of runs in women’s Tests for Australia, I don’t think it will be much longer until Sutherland goes past her. Hopefully women’s Tests continue to be prioritised to allow her to do that.
But of course, the big story of the match was Healy’s final outing for Australia. What a privilege to finish with a big win like that, a privilege which she truly deserves. The moment of the match for me was her taking that fantastic slips catch from Alana King’s bowling and running around in excitement, like she was a kid on debut once again.
Thanks for joining us throughout this exciting multi-format series. I hope you’ve enjoyed the ride as much as I have!
Alyssa Healy speaks after her final match for Australia, thanking fans for the ‘love and support’
“Really pleased with that effort, bouncing back from the T20 series.” Alyssa Healy says. “Coming into the group I sensed there was a little bit of disappointment, a little bit of uncertainty, but the way that they responded and came out and played in the last four fixtures has been unbelievable. I’m really proud and great signs for the future.”
When asked about the great individual performances, she is delighted that her team were able to have this opportunity to show what they can do.
“I just walked in the change room before and Lucy Hamilton said ‘Test cricket I think is my new favourite format’, so it’s great to see these young kids get an opportunity to showcase their skill over a longer period of time,” she says. “I think the white ball doesn’t really give us the opportunity to do that – to set up batters and set up an innings and play the purest form of the game. Long live Test cricket and I hope we keep seeing more!”
Speaking about the emotion of the moment, she stays in control, despite the overwhelming nature of the occasion.
“Honestly, it hit me just before that I don’t get to come into that changeroom again and be around the girls,” she says. “But I’m going to enjoy the next little bit and singing the team song one last time. I’m genuinely this group of amazing people moving forward, led by Sophie Molineux. I think they’re going to achieve some great things and I might turn into that really bitter ex-player and tell them how to do stuff! I’m just kidding everyone!
“On a personal note, thank you very much to everyone for the love and support. While you’re in the thick of it, you’re just in this little bubble and you just want to win games and compete and you don’t really realise what’s going on outside. So I guess to feel that for the first time and enjoy that over the last week has been amazing. So thank you very much to everyone who came this week, but everyone at home as well.”
She confirms she was not tempted to open in the second innings.
“I’ve got to protect my average of 20 in Test cricket,” she jokes. “No, I think we’re watching the future of Australian cricket walk out there and mark centre and open and I didn’t want to get in the way of that. I’ve had my time in the sun and it’s time for the next generation to showcase what they can do.”
Harmanpreet Kaur is gracious in defeat as she gets up to speak.
“We started really well, playing really good cricket in T20, but unfortunately after that we were not able to continue,” she says. “But I think it was a good series overall, we’re really happy to be playing in Australia and I think it was a great fight.”
Speaking on the multi-format series, she is very positive.
“It was great fun and hopefully in future we keep getting these kind of tournaments, because this gives us great confidence. I think Test cricket is something we all want to play. Pink ball was something that was very challenging and hopefully in future we get these kind of challenges again.”
Player of the match and series: Annabel Sutherland
No surprises that Sutherland picks up player of the match, but an extra special honour to also be player of the series!
“It’s nice to be here at the end of day three with a win and especially sending Midge off with a win,” she says. “I love being out there, I love competing. India really put it to us in the T20 format and we were able to bounce back.”
Asked about whether she’d like to play more Tests, she is obviously very positive, being incredible in this format as she is.
“I’ll take as much (Test cricket) as I can get, they’re few and far between, but it makes each one special.”
Lovely scenes on the field with Gardner and Perry carrying Healy on their shoulders to celebrate her final game for Australia. She had some nice moments with the Indian team while shaking hands as well, many of them stopping to wish her well – both players and support staff. Stay tuned, we’ll have the presentations coming up soon!
Australia win by 10 wickets
There wasn’t much for Australia to do, but they would have known the way they wanted to go about it – they would have wanted to run it down fairly quickly, but without too much risk and not losing any wickets. They have done just that, through a lovely partnership between Litchfield and Voll. India nearly broke the partnership early, but the Australian pair made a good decision to use a review and she was able to stay out there to hit the winning runs.
Kashvee and Satghare did their best in tough circumstances for India, but it was an almost impossible task against an Australian team high on the emotions of this match. A comprehensive victory for the home team that they will remember for a long time to come.
5th over: Australia 28-0 (Voll 16, Litchfield 11)
Voll gets into risky territory with an uppish cut shot, but it gets in between the fielders and races away for four. Next ball she gets a thick outside edge that falls between slip and gully and also runs away for four – down to just one run to win now. Next ball she finds a gap with a third consecutive four to win the game for Australia.
4th over: Australia 16-0 (Voll 4, Litchfield 11)
Satghare continues – there was some thought that India may have used spin early after the success of King and Gardner today. But they’re persisting with pace for now. Litchfield speeds things up with a big drive over the top of the field for a four – just a couple of bounces before it’s over the rope. She doesn’t get reckless and goes back into her shell for the next few deliveries, paying respect to the bowling. There’s a little mix up between the batters late in the over – Litchfield goes for the run, but Voll sends her back and she makes it back to her crease in time. She finishes the over with a big no look straight drive that is almost caught by Harmanpreet in the deep and brings the required runs into single figures.
3rd over: Australia 10-0 (Voll 4, Litchfield 5)
Litchfield starts Kashvee’s second over with a lovely straight drive down the ground. Harmanpreet chases it down to restrict her to two runs. Voll gets off the mark with a four from her favourite pull shot – Rawal makes a good chase, but it evades her on the boundary. That will make Voll feel more settled, she’d hate to go out for a duck chasing this low totak.
2nd over: Australia 3-0 (Voll 0, Litchfield 2)
Satghare opens the bowling from the other end – she was excellent in the first innings for India. Litchfield defends the first two balls, then finds a single through a little drop and run. They’re not in any hurry here, they appear to be happy to accumulate this slowly through singles. One nipping in catches Voll off guard and raps her on the pads. She’s given out on field, but she reviews and it’s missing the stumps on DRS. She’ll be relieved to be given that life!
1st over: Australia 2-0 (Voll 0, Litchfield 1)
Kashvee opens the bowling for India and Voll starts with a rushed defensive shot as the ball moves in at her. Her next shot is a lovely straight drive, but it’s straight to a fielder. She gets off strike with a leg bye – there’s a muted appeal from India, but it’s clearly going down leg and they don’t press the issue. Litchfield opens her account with a little work off her pads for a single. It’s a strong first over from Kashvee.
India sets Australia 25 runs to win
Well what an eventful first session! Healy went with a “spin to win” tactic and it worked a treat, with King and Gardner picking up two wickets each to ensure Australia have a low total to chase.
The pressure built by both bowlers (as well as Brown who started the day off with King) was immense and there were chances almost every over. The Australians were full of energy in the field and supported the bowlers very well – it was a real team effort to take these final four wickets.
For India, Pratika Rawal was strong and her efforts were admirable in the face of an intense spell of spin bowling. Although she was dismissed in the end, it was a sensational effort and will certainly provide her team with a positive from an otherwise disappointing innings.
Australia are preparing to head out to try to finish off the match and get these 25 runs needed for victory. I was expecting to see Healy come out to open with such a small total required. Surely she’d love one last batting innings for Australia? But it looks like Litchfield and Healy are padded up and ready to go, so I guess she has decided she’d rather finish this match with her feet up – and who could blame her?
WICKET! Rawal c Sutherland b Gardner 63 (India 149)
Gardner gets huge bounce and catches Rawal off guard. She plays an uncontrolled pull shot and Sutherland takes a diving catch at short fine leg to close out the Indian innings.
48th over: India 149-9 (Rawal 63, Kranti 0)
Satghare gets down sweeping to King again – she has scored her three runs through three sweep shots so far. Rawal drives the next one for a single and King settles herself to tighten things up and put the pressure back on, which she does well, getting the wicket of Satghare late in the over.
WICKET! Satghare c Voll b King 3 (India 149-9)
King builds the pressure and lures Satghare into an unwise shot, catching a little edge that pops up to Voll at bat pad.
47th over: India 147-8 (Rawal 62, Satghare 2)
A lovely email from Jan and Rosie who are following the blog today.
Hi Megan, Jan and Rosie, holidays in Thailand, awaiting every word on this match ….
Regards Jan
Lovely to hear from you both, I hope you’re having a great time. Gardner starts this over very well, throwing her arm ball into the mix. Rawal manages to find two through deep cover late in the over.
46th over: India 145-8 (Rawal 60, Satghare 2)
King to Satghare now, with two fielders in close on the offside and one on the legside, just searching for a little error. Satghare swings big at one ball, but it misses everything and goes through the slips for four byes. There’s a big appeal for lbw on the last ball of the over, but the umpire says no and Healy decides it’s probably going down leg, so they don’t review.
45th over: India 141-8 (Rawal 60, Satghare 2)
Rawal is on strike to Gardner to start this over to offer a bit of protection as the set batter. She gets a bit of a risky cut shot away, but the risk pays off as it races to the boundary. Gardner switches to coming around the wicket and it gets Rawal back into defensive mode to close out the over.
44th over: India 137-8 (Rawal 56, Satghare 2)
Rawal hasn’t seen much strike recently and she starts King’s over with a cut shot through the field, but there’s protection in the deep and it’s just a single. Satghare plays another sweep – it’s her get out of jail free card at the moment, but it could be her downfall at some point.
43rd over: India 134-8 (Rawal 54, Satghare 1)
Gardner comes around the wicket to Satghare and keeps on applying the pressure to the new batter. There aren’t the same chances being created as in her first over, but it’s still excellent bowling and ends up as a maiden.
42nd over: India 134-8 (Rawal 54, Satghare 1)
Spin from both ends now with King continuing her spell. Rawal gets herself off strike immediately and Kashvee can’t weather the storm, despite a brilliant first innings. King is turning the ball at right angles and Satghare is completely baffled, but after a few balls she takes a leaf out of Rana’s book and gets down sweeping to nullify the spin.
WICKET! Kashvee c Healy b King 0 (India 132-8)
King was due a wicket after building the pressure for so long. She gets great turn to catch the edge and Healy takes a great catch in the slips to dismiss Kashvee for a duck.
41st over: India 132-7 (Rawal 53, Kashvee 0)
Our first look at off spin in this innings as Gardner comes into the attack now. She creates a chance immediately, with an edge from Rana, but it flies between Litchfield and Voll. The next ball gets the edge again and again falls safely. The next ball is a little bottom edge that Mooney can’t hold on to. If she had managed to grab it on the bounce, she could also have got a stumping, but it goes straight past her and is picked up near the boundary. Next ball Gardner decides she’s tired of all this and just decides to bowl her instead.
WICKET! Rana b Gardner 30 (India 132-7)
Gardner sets Rana up perfectly, with a chance on every ball of the over before she finally gets her bowled through the gate.
40th over: India 130-6 (Rawal 53, Rana 28)
King catches Rana’s edge again, but again it falls safely. King keeps on piling on the pressure, but eventually Rana finds an opportunity to sweep again and picks up another boundary, which brings India ahead of the Australia’s first innings score.
39th over: India 123-6 (Rawal 53, Rana 21)
Brown starts the over with three dots to Rana. Her bowling was quite loose at times through the T20 and ODI series, but she has been far better in the Test arena. What a shame that women’s Tests are so few and far between for those who have the potential to be specialists in this format.
38th over: India 122-6 (Rawal 53, Rana 20)
It feels like King is setting something up here, she is applying so much pressure and it seems something could happen at any time. Voll has a catching attempt at bat pad, but it falls just to her left.
37th over: India 121-6 (Rawal 53, Rana 19)
Rawal finds a single from the first ball of Brown’s next over and they continue to edge closer to Australia’s first innings total. Rana is more watchful, but then she tries to get on to the front foot to a delivery that moves unexpectedly and edges it to the slips. Sutherland makes a diving attempt, but can’t hold it. If she had managed to take it, it would have been one of the great catches of all time, so I think we can forgive her.
36th over: India 119-6 (Rawal 52, Rana 19)
King continues to bowl very tightly – the ball is turning to miss the bat on almost every delivery. There’s just one run from the over.
35th over: India 118-6 (Rawal 51, Rana 19)
Brown starts the over with a short ball in an attempt to rattle Rawal, but she manages to swat it away for a single. Brown throws in another short ball to Rana, but she sensibly ducks under it. The last ball of the over hits Rana right in the quad and we have a little break as she recovers.
34th over: India 117-6 (Rawal 50, Rana 19)
Lots of chat from the Australians being picked up on the stump mic as King continues to turn the screws in her spell. Rawal manages to find a single and brings up her 50 – she’s has been fantastic for India so far. Once Rana gets on strike, she has a clear plan and gets down low and sweeps the ball to the boundary for four. King’s next ball is a beauty and she comes so close to hitting the stumps.
33rd over: India 112-6 (Rawal 49, Rana 15)
Brown picks up where she left off with a great line and length delivery. The pressure is building on the Indian batters, still 18 runs behind Australia’s first innings total. Rawal finally finds the ball she’s been waiting for, stepping around for a big pull shot to the boundary for four. Brown tightens up to follow it up with a good yorker length delivery to force Rawal back into a defensive position.
32nd over: India 107-6 (Rawal 44, Rana 15)
King resumes and takes her time getting her field set. Rana hits the first ball of the over back towards her, but it lands safely wide of King. An almost stumping next ball – King is really making things happen here and Rana has to get her bat out into a strong forward defensive position to avoid losing her wicket. King is bowling beautifully here, there is almost a chance on every ball. Another maiden for Australia.
31st over: India 107-6 (Rawal 44, Rana 15)
Brown comes on from the other end and starts with three dots to Rawal, all landing in a very similar spot. There’s a big appeal for lbw in the middle of the over, but no joy from the umpire. Brown is very insistent that they should review, but she can’t convince her captain. It’s a maiden in the end – a good start to the day from Brown.
30th over: India 107-6 (Rawal 44, Rana 15)
Alana King bowls the first over of the day and Rana gets off strike straight away. Kind bowls a good line and length and pins Rawal down for quite a while, just two runs for the over.
The players are on the field and we’re ready to get Day 3 underway!
Ellyse Perry is chatting now after easing her way into the top spot of highest ever Australian women’s run scorers yesterday. She responds to questions about her record-breaking in typically humble fashion.
“It’s probably more indicative of how long I’ve been playing for more than anything special about me,” she said. “Having the chance to be part of this team and experience so much with them is such a privilege.”
Lucy Hamilton is having a chat in the pre-show and spoke a bit about getting the call to find out that she was in the team for this Test.
“It all happened in a bit of a blur,” she said. “I called my parents and luckily they were already coming over with grandparents. I just feel so lucky to be here and learn from the group.”
If you want to catch up on all of yesterday’s action before today’s play gets underway, you can re-live it over by over right here:
Preamble
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Megan Maurice
Hello and welcome to Day 3 of this very exciting Test match! So far this Test we have already had 26 wickets fall and one century – what else awaits with two days of play still in front of us?
Yesterday was all about Annabel Sutherland, as she raised the bat for her third Test century and topped off the afternoon with two very important wickets – dismissing both Jemimah Rodrigues (14) and Harmanpreet Kaur (11). Pratika Rawal is providing some hope for India, currently on 43* and hoping Sneh Rana (14*) can stay with her and keep some life in this contest.
Australia are still 20 runs ahead with only four wickets remaining for India and it seems unlikely at this stage that they can put on a big enough stand from here to get into a position they can defend, but stranger things have happened in Test cricket!
We’re not far away from the first ball of the day being bowled, so let’s jump in and see what will happen!