The first day of India-Australia women saw torrential rain and thunderstorm in a day where Indian batters played superbly for 132/1. Smriti Mandhana looked particularly impressive with her sumptuous drives and opened the game with a flurry of boundaries in the first session. She put on an impressive 93 runs first wicket partnership with Shefali Verma and dominated the pace attack of the Australians.
It took spinner Sophie Molineux to crack an opening when she had Shefali Verma slice one to McGrath after the batter had made 31. The action went smoothly till Dinner but soon after the break, a heavy rainfall didn’t allow an action for long period. The teams saw a bit of action before tea but then rain barred any further play. When the stumps got called, Punam Raut remained unbeaten for 16 while Mandhana had cracked a knock of 80 runs including a whopping 15 fours and one six.
Cricket can be a frustrating sport sometimes considering how rain and inclement weather affects the game on a regular basis. It is especially a cause of annoyance in a women’s test game as the women don’t play as near as men in the longer format of the game. The way Indian batters have played in foreign conditions shows how much women cricketers can contribute to the longer format.
