India women were comfortably placed at 132/1 when rain brought an early end to the opening day’s play on the historic pink-ball Test against Australia women in Carrara in Gold Coast, Queensland on Thursday. Smriti Mandhana was batting on a sublime 80 and Punam Raut was unbeaten on 16 when stumps were called on Day 1. India were 101/1 at the dinner break on the opening day of their one-off Day/Night Test, after which lightning delayed the start of play for a while. The last time India and Australia engaged in a women's Test match was fifteen years ago. The one-off Test will be India's first day-night Test. This is a new-look Indian women's Test team. Only two members of the 2006 Test team are in the current squad. They are skipper Mithali Raj and veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami. This will be the second Test match for the Indian women's cricket team this year. Earlier this year in June, India settled for a hard-earned draw against England women in Bristol after being forced to follow-on. Opener Shafali Verma stood out in her first Test match with scores of 96 and 63. Smriti Mandhana scored 78 in the first innings but Mithali Raj, the mainstay of the middle-order, failed in both innings. With the third AUS vs IND ODI held on Sunday and the following day being a rest day, Indian women have got only two practice sessions in the lead up to the landmark Test. The visitors lost 2-1 in the ODI series. A lot of focus will be on Ellyse Perry. She has a fabulous Test record with scores of 213*, 116 and 76* in her last three Test innings. Follow live cricket scores of Australian women vs Indian women.
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17:34 PM IST: Day 1 Stumps
16:18 PM IST: Rains Gods come again
Rain has come once again - the second time in the day. According to the forecast, it's going to stay longer than expected. Tea has been announced. There will be 87 overs played on the day instead of 90 overs. Smriti Mandhana is batting on a career-best 80 not out while Punam Raut is on uneaten 16. India 132/1 after 44.1 overs.
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14:00 PM IST: Rain delay
Rain and thunderstorms have stopped play at Carrara Oval. The umpires have finished a formal inspection but the pitch remains under covers.
12:21 PM IST: Shafali Verma could have added more to the kitty had she not be dropped thrice. She was dropped by Meg Lanning at slip twice. Annabel Sutherland dropped the other, a sitter.
12: 16 PM IST: Smriti Mandhana became the first woman to score fifty in a pink ball Test match for India. This was Mandhana's third Test fifty.
12:08 PM IST: Dinner Break
100 up for Indian women. As usual Smriti Mandhana led the charge with a fine half-century. Her partner Shafali Verma (31) got the start but couldn't capitalise on that. India 101/1 after 33 overs. Mandhana is batting at 64 not out.
9:42 AM IST: Player debuts
Meghna Singh and Yastika Bhatia make their Test debuts for India.
For Australia, Darcie Brown, Stella Campbell, Annabel Sutherland and Georgia Wareham have been handed their maiden Test caps.
9:38 AM IST: Playing XIs
India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Mithali Raj (C), Yastika Bhatia, Deepti Sharma, Taniya Bhatia (W), Pooja Vastrakar, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Rajeshwari Gayakwad.
Australia: Alyssa Healy (W), Beth Mooney, Meg Lanning (C), Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Ashleigh Gardner, Annabel Sutherland, Sophie Molineux, Georgia Wareham, Darcie Brown, Stella Campbell.
9:30 AM IST: Toss
Australia women have won the toss and they will bowl first.
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8:45 AM IST: Team News
Harmanpreet Kaur remains unavailable though she did have a hit in the nets on the eve of the game. "Harman had injured her thumb while fielding that is why she is out. it has still not healed properly," Mithali said on the eve of the match.
Rookie batter Yastika Bhatia and pacer Meghna Singh, who made impressive debuts in the ODI series, could be handed their maiden Test caps.
Australia have also been dealt a blow ahead of the game with vice-captain Rachael Haynes ruled out due to a hamstring injury. Skipper Meg Lanning said the team will either pick a fast-bowling all-rounder or a specialist batter in her place.
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8:28 AM IST: Squads
Australia: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham.
India: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.
