Australia vs India, day-night Test, day 3 as it happened: Hosts reach 143/4 at stumps

The debate over four-day Tests aside, what are India’s chances on the final day?
Hard to say driver’s seat as the commentators believed, given we are in the middle of the second innings and this was the first full day without rain interruptions. But India are in a good spot from where they can’t lose.
And even if this match is likely to be a draw, there’s still much to look forward to. Jhulan Goswami with the ball, Ellyse Perry with the bat for starters. Join in for the final day’s action tomorrow at 9.30 IST.

It’s stumps on Day 3. Australia 143/4 in 60 overs, trail by 234 runs. Ellyse Perry (27 off 98) and Ash Gardner (13 off 34) on crease.

And we have a full day’s play in this Test for once! India batted out the first innings, with a scoring rate that raised debate, but declared their first innings and then Jhulan Goswami struck in her new ball spell. Goswami and Pooja Vastrakar picked the four wickets so far while the spinners bowled good, clean spells.

Meanwhile, Perry sure loves batting against the pink ball yeah?
2 innings
472 balls faced
240 runs scored
And not yet dismissed!

What a lovely anecdote about Mitch Starch helping out the Aussie bowlers. The pacer is currently with the women’s team and has been seen in the nets.

The three Indian pacers are bowling very frugal overs in tandem as Australia look to play out the final few overs of the day. Ellyse Perry showing why she’s such an all-format, all-round star with a patient knock.

The conundrum of one-off Tests in a multi-format series, as well as having four-day Tests, has been discussed at length by cricket fans today. The weather hasn’t helped of course, the decks have been stacked against a conclusive result this match.

A maiden over from Goswami follows a single-run over from Vastrakar. Australia 131/4.

Jhulan Goswami comes back in as India look to attack as we near Stumps. She very nearly gets one even! Australia 130/4, need 98 runs to avoid follow on. Ten over to go in the day, with Perry and Gardner on crease.

Brief break in play as umpires replace the pink ball that has been altered by the dew. It appears that they are unhappy with the replacement too and a new box has come out. It lasted just over an over.

WICKET! Tahlia McGrath is out on 28 off 68. Australia 119/4
Pooja Vastrakar has her second wicket of the day as she removes Tahlia McGrath, who had begun to really hit her stride. Short ball and the batter goes for a cut and finds the fielder at point. A soft dismissal in the end but reward for Indian bowlers keeping up the pressure with tight lines.
Ash Gardner is the new bat in.

Tahlia McGrath is playing a very handy knock at the fag end of the day. Batting on 27 off 59, she has scored four boundaries already and is looking set in. The all-rounder is coming off a good ODI series and has picked up where she left off. Australia 118/3 after 47 overs.

Meanwhile, look who is on field and saving runs. No prizes for guessing it is Jemimah Rodrigues.

The 100 comes up for Australia as Perry and McGrath look to step it up. A boundary a piece in the last two overs off Singh and Gayakwad. The stand worth 21 off 60 now.

Ellyse Perry is batting on 10 off 50.
Reminder: Ellyse Perry has faced more than 400 deliveries in pink-ball Test matches now and is yet to be dismissed. She had scored an unbeaten 213 in the previous ( and only) day-night Test, in the women’s Ashes.

Rajeshwari Gayakwad returns to the attack. 23 overs left in the day. Australia 86/3 as India have really choked up the runs since Lanning’s wicket. Perry and McGrath on crease.

Meghna Singh into the attack to replace Pooja Vastrakar, who has bowled a very good spell with figures of 9-3-20-1 so far. And then Deepti Sharma bowls her fourth maiden in five overs. Australia 85/3.

After three straight maidens, Deepti Sharma has given away runs.. two singles. Tahlia McGrath is the new bat in. Australia 84/3

A word on why there is no DRS.

WICKET! Meg Lanning is out on 38 of 78. Australia 80/3
Pooja Vastrakar has got the big, big wicket of the Australian captain! The ball nipped back late and tapped her bang on the pads, a huge appeal and it’s given. But replays suggest there was a slight inside edge. Lanning is not happy but there is no DRS in this Test match. The set No 3 batter is gone.

Change of bowling on both ends and Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar come in. Off-spinner Sharma has started off with back-to-back maidens. Australia 80/2.

Jhulan Goswami has bowled 10 overs so far, with 2 maidens, 2 wickets and 22 runs. Rajeshwari Gayakwad continues her tight spell from the other end. Australia 77/2 (29 overs)

We are back after Tea!
Jhulan Goswami with the ball, Meg Lanning and Ellyse Perry with the bat. A storied passage of play coming up with three absolute GOATs of women’s cricket.

The set up that everyone watching is talking about – Top stuff from Jhulan Goswami!

And that will be tea! Australia 69/2. India 377/8 (declared)
It’s advantage India as the teams head into the short break, as Goswami gets the crucial breakthrough. Ellyse Perry is the new bat in and India brought back Gayakwad’s spin from the other end.

WICKET! Alyssa Healy is out on 29 off 66, Australia 63/2
Jhulan Goswami is brought back into the attack and the 38-year-old strikes in the very first over. A faint edge and very good catch by Taniya Bhatia. That set up, that perfect length, that line... a classic from Goswami.
The stand between Healy and Lanning, on 49, had begun to look ominous. But India’s pace spearhead said ‘Not on my watch, not with the pink ball under lights’!

The 50 also comes up for Australia as Healy and Lanning rebuild after the first wicket.

Dropped. And DROPPED again! Two straight drops in that over from Pooja Vastrakar, two extra lives for Meg Lanning at 17. First, Deepti Sharma drops a low catch at gully and the next delivery, the ball pops up and falls between two fielders at mid-off and both Punam Raut and Mithali Raj can’t get under it. How costly will this prove to be?

Bowling change as Pooja Vastrakar comes in the 12th over and goes for five runs.
Well, well and spin comes in early too as India bring in Rajeshwari Gayakwad from the other end, as both new ball bowlers are replaced. The first ball from the spinner is dispatched to the boundary by Healy. Australia 44/1 after 13 overs.

Meg Lanning has quickly outscored Alyssa Healy, scoring a delightful couple of boundaries already. The Aussie No 3 bat has settled in quick in the conditions. Australia 34/1 after 11 overs.

WICKET! Beth Mooney is out on 4 off 16, Australia 14/1.
Bowled! Jhulan Goswami has a wicket with the pink ball as she fittingly opens the account for India. Full, straight, and takes an inside egde to knock down the bails – Goswami is pumped!
Meg Lanning is the new bat in.

Australia 11/0 after 5 overs. India 377/8 (declared)

Good couple of overs from India in terms of runs, including a maiden from Goswami.

Meanwhile... India have Shafali Verma at first slip. She hasn’t had the best of fielding returns in the ODIs, so this is an interesting choice.

A good way to start the innings from Healy, who has been behind the stumps throughout the Indian innings.

Time for the second innings. Jhulan Goswami with the pink ball, Alyssa Healy and Beth Mooney to open. Here we go!

And India have declared! The first innings ends on 377/8 after a brief look-in for new ball bowlers Goswami and Singh with the bat.
Time for the pink new ball under lights now.

WICKET! Deepti Sharma is dismissed on 66 of 167
Four. Four. Dot. Wicket.
Stella Campbell has trapped the Indian after she tries to pump up the gas and goes for another big shot. The ball doesn’t seem to have pitched in line but no DRS so the controversial call stands.
But no declaration from India yet as Meghna Singh walks in to partner Jhulan Goswami.

Here’s some humour as conversation for declaration continues

Second session is here: The Aussie team in a huddle, heading out to field. Deepti Sharma and Jhulan Goswami walk out for India. (No declaration, obviously)

Session break: India 359/7

Session break: India 359/7

End of session, India 359/7 (Deepti Sharma 58*): A declaration seems unlikely at the moment but the match should move quicker in the second session one would imagine.

Over 142.3: WICKET! Pooja Vastrakar (13) c Beth Mooney b Ellyse Perry, 359/7

A STUNNING CATCH BY MOONEY! Vastrkar out, and it is 300th international wicket for Perry. And that will be dinner.

Session numbers: 40.4 overs, 83 runs.

India 358/6 (Deepti Sharma 57, Pooja Vastrakar 13) Perhaps one over left before the dinner break.

India 355/6 (Deepti Sharma 56, Pooja Vastrakar 11) no, not another sitter dropped! Gardner this time off her own bowling. Perhaps fatigue. Aussies have been quite sloppy.

STAT: India reach 350 in an innings for the fifth time in an away Test match. And this is their highest team score in Australia by some distance. This is indeed now the highest ever total by a visiting team in a Test match in Australia.

HALF CENTURY! In her second Test match, a second Test fifty for Deepti Sharma.

India 342/6 (Deepti Sharma 49, Pooja Vastrakar 5) Slog sweep, her trusted friend, takes Deepti Sharma closer to a half century. Well placed for four in Molineux’s over.

India 337/6 (Deepti Sharma 44, Pooja Vastrakar 5) Campbell is bowling a great spell and finishes that over with an absolute brute of a perfume ball, whizzing past Vastrakar.

India 334/6 (Deepti Sharma 42, Pooja Vastrakar 4) Shots in anger (figuratively speaking) from Deepti in Molineux’s over. Followed by a maiden from Campbell from the other end.

India 327/6 (Deepti Sharma 35, Pooja Vastrakar 4) Vastrakar gets off the mark with a four in Molineux’s over. Campbell from the other end is now going for the short stuff. A few bouncers sent down in the last few overs.

India 320/6 (Deepti Sharma 32, Pooja Vastrakar 0) That Stella Campbell over, a wicket right away for her and all, also saw the ball move off the pitch. Good signs for Indian bowlers?

Pooja Vastrakar is the new bat in. Has she come in with any instructions, we wonder.

Healy on the mic: Feels like the ball is hitting the gloves a bit harder. (Signs that the pitch is quickening up perhaps)

WICKET! Taniya Bhatia (22) c Alyssa Healy b Stella Campbell, 319/6

Watch out for your hair, Stella! Oops, nope too late. The youngster gets the first Test wicket of her career. A superb delivery on the length just moves a bit away, draws the outside edge from Bhatia.

India 318/5 (Deepti Sharma 30, Taniya Bhatia 22) If anything the scoring rate has dipped even further in the last few minutes. Game in a limbo.

India 316/5 (Deepti Sharma 28, Taniya Bhatia 22) Bhatia had some attention on her hand during the drinks break. And as play resumes, another half chance goes down at slip. Lanning would have liked to do better there and Molineux is unlucky.

Despite nudges from Healy on mic, Lisa Sthalekar (again) on point. India have no obligation to make this match interesting for the sake of making it interesting. They need to do what’s good for them (but just that, for me, even that would entail a bit more run-scoring)

India 315/5 (Deepti Sharma 27, Taniya Bhatia 22) A half chance for Australia as an outside edge from Deepti flies past slip. And with that over, time for a drinks break for the players.

Meanwhile, the innings is still not going anywhere in particular. India content to maintain status quo.

India 312/5 (Deepti Sharma 24, Taniya Bhatia 22) Healy back on the mic again and says this is a pitch where she cannot wait to get batting on and adds how big a star Sutherland is going to be for the side.

India 310/5 (Deepti Sharma 23, Taniya Bhatia 21) India have scored 34 runs in 16 overs today so far.

Jhulan Goswami is indeed padded up.

India 310/5 (Deepti Sharma 23, Taniya Bhatia 21) Lanning has heard us. Sutherland and Molineux bowling in tandem now. Bhatia continues to use the gaps on the offside well against spin.

Surely Ash Gardner and Ellyse Perry deserve a break here at the very least? Australia have used eight bowlers, and these two bowled 45% of overs between them. Quite the workload that. And on cue, there is the change, Sutherland comes on not long after Gardner was seen holding her shoulder.

India 302/5 (Deepti Sharma 23, Taniya Bhatia 15) 300 comes up! After a quiet Perry over, a slog sweep done right by Deepti in Gardner’s over for four and that is more indication that India are looking to push on.

India 296/5 (Deepti Sharma 17, Taniya Bhatia 15) We have movement, we have movement. Bhatia takes on Gardner and gets a boundary either side of point. Two fours in an over! India close to 300.

India 288/5 (Deepti Sharma 17, Taniya Bhatia 7) Healy looks to perhaps get a reaction from the Indian batters, also says spin from one end because Gardner has been the one to give them control.

Alyssa Healy on the mic: “Not sure what they are thinking about moving the game...”

India 286/5 (Deepti Sharma 16, Taniya Bhatia 6): First shot in anger so far today, a slog sweep from Deepti, and even that is just for one run.

India 285/5 (Deepti Sharma 15, Taniya Bhatia 6): Brad Hodge thinks there is reverse on offer for Perry, from the yorker we saw earlier. Some more evidence of that in this over.

India 284/5 (Deepti Sharma 14, Taniya Bhatia 6): There is a boundary for Bhatia, an outside edge runs behind point for a four.

India 280/5 (Deepti Sharma 14, Taniya Bhatia 2): The commentators are still trying to almost will this match into go for a result... the Indian batters are in no hurry. Perry, meanwhile, continues to operate in a good rhythm like she did on day 2, produces a half chance against Deepti.

India 279/5 (Deepti Sharma 13, Taniya Bhatia 2): Perry nails a yorker, it hits Bhatia’s toe and then the bat.., but she has fooled everyone into thinking otherwise. That was plumb, but hardly an appeal.

India 277/5 (Deepti Sharma 13, Taniya Bhatia 0): All the talk on commentary is about who needs to do what do force a result here. In all honesty, this is heading for a dreary draw. But hey, one can hope. Gardner starts with a maiden.

India 277/5 after 102 overs (Deepti Sharma 13, Taniya Bhatia 0): Interesting. The spin of Gardner straight away from the other end.

Tahlia McGrath starts off (rather finishes off) proceedings with the pending delivery in her over from last night.

On Day 2 of the, Smriti Mandhana became the first Indian woman to score a Test century in Australia, breaking a record that stood since 1949. A look at the numbers from her knock:

Data check: Breaking a record that stood since 1949 and other numbers from Smriti Mandhana’s century

After two rain-hot days, the weather looks good to begin Day 3.

09.20 am: Hello and welcome to our live coverage of day three of the day-night Test match between Australia and India at Metricon Stadium in Gold Coast.

Smriti Mandhana scored a superb century as India reached 276/5 against Australia in the one-off day-night Test on Friday. The opening day was also affected by the weather and it was more of the same again. Deepti Sharma was batting on 12 and Taniya Bhatia was yet to open her account as the players walked off the field and the covers were brought less than 20 overs after dinner. Thunderstorm and heavy rain followed and no play was possible thereafter.