#OTD in 2021: Smriti Mandhana hit her maiden Test Hundred


image-l8pwkiadMandhana scored a brilliant ton. [PC: Twitter]

On this day, a year ago, Smriti Mandhana scored her first-ever Test century in a one-off fixture against Australia at Carrara. In this pursuit, she became the first Indian Women's player to score a red-ball hundred in Australia. 

Mandhana's knock help India secure a sizeable lead 

Invited to bat first, openers Mandhana and Shafali Verma provided a stable start to the Women in Blue. The duo added 93 runs before Verma was dismissed for 31. 

Then, Punam Raut (36) and skipper Mithali Raj (30) were good support to Mandhana, who was sublime with her timing and steer the team on the right path. She was dismissed in the 69th over, after delivering a knock of 127 off 216 balls, laced with 22 fours and a six. In the end, Deepti Sharma contributed 66 to power India to declare on 377/8. 

In response, Australia managed to declare a score of 241/9, with contributions from Ellyse Perry (68) and Ashleigh Gardner (51). Pooja Vastrakar was the pick of the bowlers for India with three wickets.

India dominate, but match ends as draw

In the second innings, Shafali Verma (52) and Smriti Mandhana (31) were clinical yet again to form a 70-run partnership for the first wicket. Afterwards, Punam Raut remained unbeaten on 41 as India declared on 135/3 and set a target of 272 runs. 

Australia lost their openers Alyssa Healy (6) and Beth Mooney (11) early. Meg Lanning and Perry then played out the remaining few overs as the match concluded as a draw. 


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