In her first spell as a Test cricketer for Australia, Lucy Hamilton picked up the prized wicket of India opener Smriti Mandhana with an absolute peach on Day One of the Pink-ball Test match at WACA in Perth on Friday.
Hamilton, 19, made her ODI debut in the recent 50-over leg of the multi-format series against India, but went wicketless in Hobart in the third match of that series. But trusted to take the new ball at WACA, Hamilton came up with a sensational fuller-length delivery in the sixth over of the first morning. It moved in ever so slightly into Mandhana, who was beaten in equal measure by the extra pace and the angle in from the leftie – with not many left-arm pacers around in the women’s game, it’s not a prospect Mandhana is used to facing on a regular basis.
It was early vindication for Australia captain Alyssa Healy who won the toss and opted to bowl, wanting to unleash the pacers on this Indian batting unit that is under pressure after severely underperforming in the ODIs.
This is, of course, the legendary wicketkeeper-batter Healy’s last match of her illustrious career.
This has got to be up there with some of the great first Test wickets in history!
Lucy Hamilton goes straight through Smriti Mandhana 😱 | |
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau)
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said her team has four debutants in Pratika Rawal, Kashvee Gautam, Sayali Satghare and Kranti Gaud. Before the pink-ball Test, India had won the T20I series 2-1 but lost the three-match ODI contest 0-3. In the mutli-format series.
India led 4-2 after T20Is but are now trailing 4-8, with four points at stake for the winner of the Test in Perth.
Indian women’s team doesn’t play Test cricket often but have a goo drecord in recent times. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side won three consecutive Tests between December 2023 and July 2024 defeating England, Australia and South Africa respectively, with all those wins came on home soil. India’s last two overseas Tests ended in draws against England and Australia in 2021. The game against Australia in September-October of that year was a day-nighter that the visitors drew.
Playing XIs:
Australia: Alyssa Healy (c), Phoebe Litchfield, Georgia Voll, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Beth Mooney (wk), Ashleigh Gardner, Tahlia McGrath, Alana King, Lucy Hamilton, Darcie Brown.
India: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Pratika Rawal, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh (wk), Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Sayali Satghare, Kranti Gaud.
(with PTI inputs)
