After trailing by 102 runs on Day 1 of their Off-Test against India Women, the Australians were heavy on numbers adding another 227 runs to the score on Day 2 held at the WACA Stadium. On Saturday, March 7, India Women finished their innings at 105/6 trailing by 20 runs. Pratika Rawal is enroute to her half-century when she resumes playing. Joining her will be Sneh Rana who finished her innings at 14* off 17.
The Australians picked up Day 2 from the 28th over at 96/3. Both Ellyse Perry and Annabel Sutherland resumed the play after remaining undefeated on Day one. Sutherland, who finished her innings with 20 runs off 29 balls went on to score her third consecutive century in the series with 129 runs off 171 balls.
Meanwhile, Perry who finished at 43 runs in 62 balls ended with a performance of 76 runs off 116 balls. Both the ladies were impressive while leading the Australian Women to a massive partnership of 128 runs.
Perry’s 76-run knock made her the second player to surpass the 1000 career runs mark for Australia. She is also now the team’s leading scorer.
Tahlia McGrath (13 runs off 32), Alana King (21 off 38), and Lucy Hamilton (23 off 54) were other decent contributors in the batting line-up as Australia Women ended their innings at 323 all-out.
India started their second innings on Day 2 with decent attempts. The team failed to start strongly after losing both of its openers Smriti Mandhana (2 off 2) and Shafali Verma (5 off 5) in two overs. But coming in next, Pratika Rawal started the momentum with her 43 runs off 84 balls, but the back-up from the remaining batter did not arrive.
Jemimah Rodrigues (14 off 15), skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (11 off 19) and all-rounder Deepti Sharma (9 off 30) all failed to add decent runs to the score.
For India, both Pratika and Sneh Rana with 14 runs remain undefeated and will continue their innings on Day 3 after ending at 105/6. Meanwhile, Australia’s Lucy Hamilton picked up three more wickets taking her tally to six wickets from both days. Sutherland picked up two more also taking her tally to six wickets, while Darcie Brown added one making total to three wickets so far.
