Harmanpreet Kaur and Co. completed a dominating eight-wicket win against Australia Women on Day 4 of their one-off Test match, in Mumbai on Sunday. Chasing 75 runs, India reached 75/2 in 18.4 overs, courtesy of an unbeaten knock of 38 off 61 balls by Smriti Mandhana. Meanwhile, the Indian fans expressed their happiness on internet as the home team won their first-ever Test match against the Aussies.
Australia Women began the second innings with a total of 261, in response of India’s first innings score of 406. Tahlia McGrath (73) got a half-century for Australia in their second innings but it didn’t really make an impact due to Sneh Rana’s 4/63. Meanwhile, Harmanpreet Kaur and Rajeshwari Gayakwad scalped two dismissals each for India.
Speaking after hitting the match-winning four, Mandhana said, “It wasn’t that tough. We thought it was going to be a rank turner on day three and four. But if you showed patience, it wasn’t that hard. I told Shafali to bat as we batted in the first innings. Just react to the ball, that was the only message we had. She was unfortunate, but she started off beautifully with that cover drive.”
Speaking after the match, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur appreciated team’s effort and said that the hard work has definitely paid off. “Well, I think it’s a reward for all the hard work we have done for so many years. And credit goes to all our sports staff, especially our bowling coach, and batting coach. They have done really hard work on us and I think, yeah, we tried to keep things very simple and I think it’s a reward for all the hard work, all the patience,” said Harmanpreet Kaur.
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