Deepti, Harmanpreet put India women on track for historic Test win against Australia on Day 3

Harmanpreet Kaur vs Australia — Image Source : BCCI Harmanpreet Kaur celebrate Tahlia McGrath's wicket at Wankhede on December 23, 2023

Harmanpreet Kaur's heroics in the third session of Day 3 put India women in firm control of the one-off Test match against mighty Australia on Saturday, December 23. India took a 187-run lead in the first innings and then Australia lost five wickets for 233 in their second innings to take a narrow 46-run lead.

Australian bowlers shone in the first session as India's innings collapsed on 406 runs, adding only 30 runs on Day 3. The star spin all-rounder Deepti Sharma top-scored with 78 runs while Pooja Vastrakar missed her fifty by just three runs. For Australia, ace all-rounder Ashleigh Gardner took four wickets while Kim Garth and Annabel Sutherland bagged two each.

Openers Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield provided Australia a good start in the second innings with a 49-run stand for the first wicket. Richa Ghosh's excellent throw ended Mooney's quickfire innings in the 12th over and then Sneh Rana bowled out Litchfield two overs later to give India an early control before the lunch.

The legendary all-rounder Ellyse Perry and in-form Tahlia McGrath scorched 84 runs for the third wicket and dominated the second session to balance the game. Rana dismissed Perry to give India a much-needed breakthrough but McGrath managed to produce her third Test fifty.

McGrath and captain Alyssa Healy added 66 runs for the fourth wickets to slightly give Australia control of the game. But Harmanpreet made a late impact by dismissing both McGrath and Healy to completely shift the momentum at Wankhede.

McGrath scored 73 runs off 177 balls, her highest Test score, while Healy added 32 runs. Gardner and Sutherland remained in the middle with Australia putting a total of 233/5 in 90 overs when umpires called for stumps on Day 3.