Rampant Aussie quicks tighten grip on Test match

Annabel Sutherland's record-breaking fourth Test century and a dominant display from quicks with the pink ball under lights have Australia firmly on track for victory over India in the day-night Test.

Fresh off her 171-ball innings of 129, Sutherland (2-15 off six overs) combined with first-gamer Lucy Hamilton (3-32 off eight) to reduce India to 6-105 at stumps on day two at the WACA Ground.

Pratika Rawal (43no) and Sneh Rana (14no) will resume on Sunday with India still 20 runs shy of making Australia bat again.

The first half of Saturday belonged to Australia's two most accomplished Test batters, as Sutherland and Ellyse Perry, who scored 129 and 76 respectively, shared in a 128-run fourth-wicket stand as the hosts established a 125-run first-innings lead.

At one point the pair were threatening to bat through the day, before India's hit back with four quick second-session wickets to curtail the Australian batting effort.

A dogged ninth-wicket stand between Alana King and Lucy Hamilton ensured India's top-order would commence their second innings at twilight, however, and Australia's quicks duly ran riot with the pink ball.

Darcie Brown celebrated her 23rd birthday by knocking Smriti Mandhana's off stump out of the ground, dismissing the superstar batter for two, and Hamilton had her opening partner Shafali Verma caught at slip for five, leaving India reeling at 2-10.

Unsurprisingly, it did not take Sutherland long to be in the thick of the action. She had an lbw call overturned in her first over, but was not to be denied, enticing Jemimah Rodrigues (14) into an ill-advised lap that spiralled high off the top edge, and a running Beth Mooney did the rest with the gloves.

Sutherland then had India captain Harmanpreet Kaur (11) edging to slip, leaving India 4-64, before Deepti Sharma joined Pratika Rawal for 9.2 overs of resistance as they looked to stretch the Test into a third day.

Those hopes were dealt a double blow 25 minutes from stumps when Hamilton worked over Deepti with a bouncer, followed by a fuller delivery that eluded the allrounder and took the top of off. The Queenslander then found a faint edge to have Richa Ghosh caught behind for a duck two balls later.

Rawal dug in alongside Sneh Rana, however, ensuring the game – and Alyssa Healy's international career – will continue into Sunday.

Earlier, Perry's 76 saw her surpass Karen Rolton to become her country's leading scorer in women's Tests, but it was her heir apparent Sutherland who stole the show.

Sutherland's 171-ball 129 saw her become the first Australian woman to score four Test centuries, and the first woman to hit three Test tons in a row.

At the age of 24 after playing just seven Tests, the Victorian has scored more than 700 runs in the format, sitting less than 300 behind Perry.

Perry and Sutherland had resumed on Saturday morning on 43no and 20no respectively, with Australia 3-96, and were clearly out to make hay in the Perth sunshine.

Perry took little time to bring up her half-century from 70 deliveries, reaching the milestone with the first six of the innings.

The allrounder, who entered the match under an injury cloud after missing the ODIs against India with a quad strain, had started the match with 930 Test runs to her name and one hour into the opening session, surpassed Rolton's record of 1,002 for most Test runs by an Australian woman.

It was Perry's first fifty in the format since July 2023, after she was dismissed for an uncharacteristic two in the last WACA Test against South Africa in early 2024, and pushed down the order to No.10 after injuring her hip during last year's Ashes Test at the MCG.

Shortly after, she was dismissed lbw by Deepti for 76, denying her a third Test century and leaving her with a career tally of 1,006 runs with potentially a second dig to come in this match.

Perry's Test record is remarkable, but already it seems only a matter of time until Sutherland eclipses her more senior teammate.

Resuming on 20, the Victorian was near-faultless as she also reached fifty off 70 deliveries, combining with Mooney to take Australia past India's first-innings total.

Sutherland survived a scare on 90 when wicketkeeper Ghosh put down a chance down leg side and went into the tea break on 93.

Upon the resumption, it took her less than 10 minutes to reach triple figures, albeit with a touch of luck on her side as her miscued shot flew over her head and to the boundary.

With Australia 4-240, leading by 142 and threatening to bat through the day, India desperately needed a wicket and Rana delivered with the breakthrough that triggered a collapse of 4-37.

Mooney, who was scratchy and clearly frustrated during her 53 balls in the middle, chipped a catch to Rodrigues at short extra cover, breaking a 54-run stand with Sutherland.

Ashleigh Gardner's stay lasted seven balls before she was bowled by Kranti Gaud, and when first Sutherland then Tahlia McGrath (13) followed shortly after, Australia were 8-277.

With Australia leading by 79 runs with an hour remaining until the dinner break, India were keen to wrap up the tail and get their openers settled before the tricky twilight period.

But King and Hamilton had other ideas, batting through the remainder of the second session to extend the hosts' advantage to 112 runs at the break.

They added just 13 more upon the resumption as first King (21), the Hamilton (23) holed out, opening the door for Australia's quicks to take the fresh pink ball under lights.

NRMA Insurance Australia v India Multi-Format Series

Australia lead the multi-format series 8-4

February 15: First T20: India won by 21 runs (DLS)

February 19: Second T20: Australia won by 19 runs

February 21: Third T20: India won by 17 runs

February 24: First ODI: Australia won by six wickets

February 27: Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets

March 1: Third ODI: Australia won by 185 runs

Australia Test squad: Alyssa Healy (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Ashleigh Gardner, Lucy Hamilton, Alana King, Phoebe Litchfield, Beth Mooney, Tahlia McGrath, Ellyse Perry, Annabel Sutherland, Rachel Trenaman, Georgia Voll, Georgia Wareham

 

India Test squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Kashvee Gautam, Sneh Rana, Amanjot Kaur, Uma Chetry, Pratika Rawal, Harleen Deol, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sayali Satghare

March 6-9: Test match, WACA Ground, 4:20pm AEDT (D/N)