After a thrilling ODI series, the Indian women’s cricket team will take on Australia women in their first-ever pink-ball Test at the Carrara Oval in Queensland starting on Thursday, September 30.
The Mithali Raj-led Women in Blue will head into the historic Test high on confidence after they pulled off their highest-ever run chase in ODI cricket to end the Australia women’s world record 26-match unbeaten streak on Sunday.
However, Meg Lanning’s Australia had already clinched the three-match ODI series after they won the first two matches. The series ended 2-1 in favour of the hosts.
Ahead of the day-night Test match, Australia suffered a massive blow as their vice-captain Rachael Haynes was ruled out for the remainder of the series due to a hamstring injury.
"Rachael Haynes, unfortunately, the hamstring is no good," Australia coach Matthew Mott said on Tuesday.
"It was pretty tough last night. I had dinner with her last night. She's devastated, obviously, these Test matches don't come around too often. She's a key member of our squad. Our thoughts are with her at the moment,” Mott added.
In-form Beth Mooney is expected to replace Haynes, who had earlier opened for Australia in their first day-night Test against England women in 2017. The hosts also have Queensland opening batsman Georgia Redmayne in their squad.
Mooney, who was the highest run-getter with 177 runs in the recently concluded ODI series, had an injury scare after she left the field in the third and final ODI with a hamstring problem. However, she is expected to be fit for the pink-ball Test.
Leg-spinner Georgia Wareham and one of two young pacers Stella Campbell and Darcie Brown are in line to make their Test debut.
Meanwhile, India will bank on their experienced players including captain Mithali Raj, all-rounder Jhulan Goswami and Smriti Mandhana to give a good account of themselves against a formidable Australian team.
Australia women vs India women Test squads
Australia women’s Test squad: Meg Lanning (captain), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy (wicket-keeper), Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney (wicket-keeper), Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham
India women’s Test squad: Mithali Raj (captain), Harmanpreet Kaur (vice-captain), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wicket-keeper), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wicket-keeper), Ekta Bisht
Where to watch Australia women vs India women Test live in India?
Australia Women vs India Women one-off Test will be telecast live from 11:30 AM IST on the Sony Six and Sony Six HD TV channels in India.
Live streaming of the Australia Women vs India Women day-night Test match will be available on SonyLiv and JioTV.
Featured photo: Twitter/BCCIWomen
