In the first day of the Wankhede Test match between India and Australia, it was the Indian bowlers who stole the show and gave their team a flying start. Australia's captain, Alyssa Healy, won the toss and chose to bat first. However, the Indian bowlers were relentless in their attack and made regular breakthroughs to deny Australia the opportunity to build a strong innings. In the final session, Australia was bundled out for 219, a below-par total considering the batting depth of the Australian side.
The Indian bowlers got off to a fantastic start as Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield were involved in a miscommunication in the first over, resulting in Litchfield's run-out. In the second over, Pooja Vastrakar clean bowled Ellyse Perry with a delivery that sharply jagged back, breaching the bat-pad gap and rattling the stumps. This dismissal showed the skill and execution of the Indian bowlers on a pitch that offered variable bounce.
Tahlia McGrath put up a resistance for Australia with a counter-attacking innings. She was given a couple of reprieves by Deepti Sharma, who dropped two catches at slip. McGrath went on to score a brisk half-century before being dismissed by Sneh Rana. Rana enticed McGrath into playing an uppish shot, which was comfortably caught by Rajeshwari Gayakwad at mid-wicket. This wicket highlighted Rana's ability to deceive the batsmen with her flight and variation.
Australia's captain, Healy, and Annabel Sutherland were the only batsmen who showed some fight during the second session. However, Healy was dismissed by Deepti Sharma as the ball kept low and sneaked under her attempted sweep shot. Australia's middle-order collapsed rapidly, with Vastrakar picking up two more wickets. At one point, Australia went from 143 for 5 to 168 for 8, losing three wickets quickly.
Despite a fighting ninth-wicket partnership between Kim Garth and Jess Jonassen, India's bowlers remained determined. The partnership frustrated the Indian fielders, who were eager for another wicket. Jonassen was eventually dismissed leg before wicket by Deepti Sharma after a successful review from India. Lauren Cheatle remained unbeaten at one end while Garth added crucial runs to take Australia past the 200-run mark. However, Rana ended Australia's innings when Cheatle mistimed her shot and was caught by Mandhana at mid-off.
In response, India's opening pair of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma started the innings aggressively. Mandhana played a beautiful square cut off Kim Garth's delivery to get off the mark, while Shafali hit two consecutive fours off Cheatle's bowling. The two young openers took India to 50 runs in just the eighth over, scoring boundaries at will.
Even though Ellyse Perry bowled a couple of no-balls in her first over, India maintained their scoring rate. Shafali punished Perry's loose deliveries, but Jonassen managed to dismiss her leg before wicket just before the end of the day's play. Shafali walked off the field after scoring an impressive 40 runs off 59 balls. At stumps, India was positioned at 98/1 with Mandhana unbeaten on 43.
Overall, it was an excellent day for the Indian team, with their bowlers putting up a commendable performance and their openers displaying their attacking prowess. Australia will need to regroup quickly and come up with a strong bowling performance on the second day to make a comeback in the match.
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