Perth, March 6 – Australian debutant pacer Lucy Hamilton claimed three wickets on a memorable first day as India were restricted to 184/8 in 57 overs at the close of play in the one-off pink-ball Test at the WACA Ground on Friday.
India, who resumed at 99/4 in the first session, lost Deepti Sharma early to Annabel Sutherland before Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh put on a promising 23-run stand off 62 balls.
However, their resistance was short-lived as Richa fell to Ashleigh Gardner and Jemimah, who looked comfortable while scoring 52 – her fourth fifty in Tests and second against Australia – flicked off Lucy to square leg, giving the teenager her second wicket.
Lucy struck again to remove Sneh Rana cheaply, completing a three-wicket haul on her debut. India’s lower order survived some tense moments, with Kashvee Gautam dropping Beth Mooney on 16, preventing the visitors from suffering further damage. Kashvee is unbeaten on 22, while Sayali Satghare is not out on seven.
However, the session was dominated by Australia’s bowlers maintaining relentless pressure with the pink ball, exploiting bounce and seam movement on the lively WACA surface, leaving the hosts firmly in control heading into the final session.
Previously, Australia’s pace attack had ripped through India’s top order in the opening session, reducing the visitors to 99/4 in 27 overs at tea. Annabel, Lucy Hamilton, and Darcie Brown kept the hosts firmly in control in what was also Australia captain Alyssa Healy’s final international game.
India are trailing 8-4 in the multi-format series and are playing Tests for the first time since mid-2024. They handed debut caps to Kashvee, Sayali, Pratika Rawal, and Kranti Gaud.
Brief scores:
India 184/8 in 57 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 52, Shafali Verma 35; Lucy Hamilton 3-31, Annabel Sutherland 3-38) against Australia
