Australia women salvage draw vs India in Test to maintain series lead

The Indian women’s
team were the domineering force in the one-off pink-ball Test against Australia
at the Carrara Oval in Queensland, which ended in a draw on Sunday as the hosts
managed to hold on to a lead in the multi-format series.    

After
Smriti Mandhana’s scintillating 127 helped India put up an imposing total of
377/8, Australia managed to avoid a follow-on on the third day’s play and
declared their innings at 241/9.

In their
second innings, opener Shafali Verma scored a fifty as the Indians declared at
135/3 to set Australia a target of 272 in 32 overs to win the rain-hit Test.

The
Australian openers Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney were dismissed early in the
final innings, giving India hopes of pulling off an improbable win, but skipper
Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry held their nerves till the final hour, when the
two captains decided to call the match a draw.

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Resuming the third day on 143/3, Perry (68*) and Ashleigh Garnder (51) stitched an 89-run stand to take the Australians to 208 for four. However, the Indian seamers sparked a batting collapse to reduced the hosts to 241 for nine, before a surprise declaration from Lanning. 

The draw means that both teams will share two points each. The multi-format series currently stands at 6-4, after Australia won the three-match ODI series 2-1. 

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Earlier, more than 80 overs were lost due to rain in the first two days, which made a draw the most likely result. 

Smriti Mandhana was adjudged player of the match for her century in the first innings, which laid the foundation for India’s big total before the pace combination of Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh and Pooja Vastrakar put the hosts under pressure. 

The one-off Test will be followed by a three-match T20I series to be played at the same venue. The series will start on October 7.