"They yearned for the purest....": BCCI secretary Jay Shah lauds Team India for historic win over Australia
Dec 24, 2023
Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 24 : The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary Jay Shah lauded the Indian women's team for their historic win over Australia in the one-off Test on Sunday.
Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana and Pooja Vastrakar were the stars of the show that was the one-off Test against Australia at Wankhede Stadium, securing for India an eight-wicket win.
Shah took to X (formerly Twitter) to laud the team for conquering the purest form of the game with their brilliance against England and Australia, two of the best sides in the world.
"Back-to-back Test wins for @BCCIWomen! They yearned for the purest form, and they conquered it with brilliance. Kudos to @ImHarmanpreet, @mandhana_smriti, @amolmuzumdar11, and our phenomenal girls, backed by the incredible support staff. History made today!#INDvsAus #TeamIndia," tweeted Shah.
https://twitter.com/JayShah/status/1738821143652614497
This victory is a landmark win for India, as they have beaten Australia for the first time ever in Tests. Earlier this year, they beat England by 347 runs in Mumbai, which is the biggest victory margin by runs in women's Test cricket.
Coming to the match, Australia won the toss and opted to bat first. They were bundled out for 219 in their first innings. All-rounder Tahlia McGrath hit a fighting fifty (50 in 56 balls, with six fours) while Beth Mooney (40 in 94 balls, with two fours) and Healy (38 in 75 balls, with four boundaries and a six) also contributed useful scores.
Pooja Vastrakar (4/53) and Sneh Rana (3/56) and Deepti Sharma (2/45) were the pick of the bowlers for India with the ball.
India took a 187-run lead in the first innings, posting a massive 406/10, batting out 126.3 overs. Openers Shafali Varma (40 in 59 balls, with eight fours) and Smriti Mandhana (74 in 106 balls, with 12 fours) gave India a fine start.
In the middle order/lower order, half-centuries came from Richa Ghosh (52 in 104 balls, with seven fours), Jemimah Rodrigues (73 in 121 balls, with nine fours) and Deepti Sharma (78 in 171 balls, with nine fours) and Vastrakar also contributed a vital 47 in 126 balls, with seven fours.
Ashleigh Gardner (4/100) was the pick of the bowlers for the Aussies while Kim Garth and Jess Jonassen took two wickets each.
Aussies could only gain a slender 74 run lead in the second innings as India bundled them out for just 261 runs. McGrath (73 in 177 balls, with 10 fours), Ellyse Perry (45 in 91 balls, with five fours), Mooney (33 in 37 balls, with seven fours) and Healy (32 in 101 balls, with one four) played crucial knocks for Australia.
Sneh (4/63) was the pick of the bowlers for India. Rajeshwari Gayakwad and skipper
Harmanpreet Kaur was also among the wickets, taking two wickets. Vastrakar got one wicket.
India got 75 runs to chase. Despite the loss of two wickets, Smriti (38* in 61 balls, with six fours) controlled the chase well to win Women in Blue their second big Test of the year, following a big 347-run win over England previously.
Sneh walked away with the 'Player of the Match' award.
