Australia v India: women’s Test, day two – live! | Sport

75th over: India 205-2 (Raut 33, Raj 5) Another maiden, this time from Gardner. The grind is real. India have to be careful they don’t grind to a halt here. They have the ascendancy, but their window to make it a match-winning position might not be too big with the likelihood of storms later on.

74th over: India 205-2 (Raut 33, Raj 5) Annabel Sutherland gets a trundle with this old ball and hits a decent line and length on her way to a maiden. She has Raut fending at fresh air outside off-stump on a couple of occasions, as is the Indian batter’s tendency, but so far she’s avoided any catchable edges.

73rd over: India 205-2 (Raut 33, Raj 5) If the grind involves Raj sweeping Gardner so beautifully for four, I’m all for it. That was a lovely stroke to punctuate another watchful over.

72nd over: India 200-2 (Raut 32, Raj 1) 200 up for India. Another over of seam from Darcie Brown that only reinforces everybody’s opinion of this pitch as flat and evenly-paced. While Raj gets her eye in and Raut continues doing her thing, this could be a bit of a grind until the tea break.

71st over: India 198-2 (Raut 31, Raj 1) Lanning is upping the pressure on Raj, bringing in a slip, silly point and a short leg for the wicket-taker Gardner. Raj is predictably watchful, and after a bye rotates the strike, Raut fails to punish a full toss outside off-stump.

70th over: India 197-2 (Raut 31, Raj 1) Darcie Brown has the ball in her hands for the first time on day two, taking over from Wareham who looked to lose her control in her previous over. Again with the seamers there’s not much doing, and India pick up a couple of easy singles, including Raj getting off the mark.

A quick weather update for you. The Gold Coast is right on the toe end of this warning zone.

69th over: India 195-2 (Raut 30, Raj 0) Wicket maiden for Gardner who now has figures of 1/17 from 18 overs. As well as the wicket she teases the outside edge of new batter Mithali Raj. Chance now for Australia to up the pressure and then cash in with the second new ball just 11 overs away.

Out of nothing Australia have the breakthrough! Gardner is rewarded for her control after Mandhana left her crease to execute one of her serene drives through the V, but she doesn’t get to the pitch of the ball and hits the ball straight to McGrath stationed at a very straight mid-off exactly for that opportunity. A brilliant knock comes to a end.

68th over: India 195-1 (Mandhana 127, Raut 30) Wareham overpitches on a couple of occasions this over, but gets away without too much damage. Raut drives one full-toss for a couple through the covers to bring up the 100 partnership, but then fails to connect with one on leg-stump that needed punishing.

67th over: India 191-1 (Mandhana 126, Raut 27) Gardner rips through another uneventful maiden.

66th over: India 191-1 (Mandhana 126, Raut 27) Wareham opens with a maiden after drinks. There’s the first half-shout of the day when Raut gets an inside-edge onto her pad propping forward.

65th over: India 191-1 (Mandhana 126, Raut 27) Gardner is racing through her work. She remains economical, but with runs coming at the other end it’s all very ODI middle-overs fare. Australia are in a hole and it’s hard to see how they get out of it until the second new ball.

64th over: India 186-1 (Mandhana 126, Raut 26) Mandhana is so so good to watch. She calmly repels Wareham for four deliveries then caresses the easiest of cover drives to the extra-cover boundary. That was so smooth. She picks up a couple more with the same shot to become the highest scorer in an innings by a visiting Test cricketer to Australia.

63rd over: India 184-1 (Mandhana 120, Raut 26) Mandhana steps out of her crease to interrupt Gardner’s long run of dot-balls. It precedes an uncharacteristically rash stroke from Raut – a flcik/lap sweep from well outside off stump – that does not come off. Perhaps a sign Australia’s spinners are beginning to frustrate this long partnership?

62nd over: India 183-1 (Mandhana 119, Raut 26) Wareham has Raut’s feet moving for four deliveries, in an intriguing duel, but then drops in a rank long-hop that’s slapped behind square on the leg side. It should be stopped, but goes straight through the fielder and away for four. Pretty rum cricket all round.

61st over: India 179-1 (Mandhana 119, Raut 22) Another rapid maiden from Gardner. Australia starting to wrest some control with this all-spin partnership.

60th over: India 179-1 (Mandhana 119, Raut 22) Australia are searching for a breakthrough and Meg Lanning has thrown the ball to leg-spinner Georgia Wareham on Test debut. There’s the first hint of turn, good fizz and flight through the air, and despite India picking up three runs, positive signs at last for Australia. Good over. Wareham already looks more interesting than anyone previously in this opening hour.

59th over: India 176-1 (Mandhana 118, Raut 20) An economical but unthreatening maiden from Gardner. Raut happy to drop anchor and allow Mandhana to do the scoring from the other end.

58th over: India 176-1 (Mandhana 118, Raut 20) Campbell allows Mandhana to rotate strike with ease, then leaks onto Raut’s hip as well, encouraging the No 3 to score her first run in 20 balls. Campbell gets a moral victory next delivery by finding a thick outside edge from Mandhana’s bat, but there is no cordon to speak and the ball skips away for four. And Mandhana cashes in on her fortune next ball, flicking a leg-stump full toss away for another boundary. Australia struggling here early on day two.

57th over: India 166-1 (Mandhana 109, Raut 19) Lanning has had enough of watching her pacers send the ball down gun barrel straight so it’s time for Gardner’s finger spin. There’s decent bounce on a length, but not much turn, and India play watchfully.

56th over: India 165-1 (Mandhana 108, Raut 19) Campbell digs one in short and gets some decent lift, but Mandhana is even to it and benefits from a thickish top edge that flies for four. Emboldened, Campbell goes short again, but Mandhana works it away comfortably for a single, then there’s a wild wide at the change of left to right hander.

India ticking along very nicely indeed.

55th over: India 159-1 (Mandhana 103, Raut 19) Just the single from another well directed Sutherland over. Still nothing happening laterally for Australia. It’s going to take all Lanning’s nous to get into this batting line-up.

54th over: India 158-1 (Mandhana 102, Raut 19) Perry, still bowling quite mechanically, makes way for debutant Stella Campbell. Mandhana almost gifts her wicket away when she backs out of a square cut to a long hop angling away from her, decelerating mid-stroke and almost bunting the ball to cover. Campbell then beats the centurion for pace outside off-stump. The pressure is released with a single off the hip.

53rd over: India 157-1 (Mandhana 101, Raut 19) Sutherland has settled into a decent line and length for Raut. It’s just short of a good length and on a fifth stump line. Raut likes to stay leg-side of the ball which means she has a tendency to fend with her hands away from her body. Maiden.

Mandhana just the fourth touring opener to score a ton in Australia, and the first since 1968.

52nd over: India 157-1 (Mandhana 101, Raut 19) Perry coming around the wicket now to Mandhana. After three length deliveries there’s a shorter one and Mandhana is onto it in a flash, pivoting on the crease and swivelling calmly to plop a four over midwicket. She makes everything look so serene. And two balls later she repeats the trick to being up her maiden Test century! Superb effort from a quality batter that is a delight to watch. The first hundred from an Indian on Australian soil. Brilliant stuff.

51st over: India 149-1 (Mandhana 93, Raut 19) The rashness may not come from a stroke but a poor single call. India have been aggressive with their running in these early overs today, rotating the strike nicely between left and right-handers, but it is an approach with little margin for error. Two from Sutherland’s latest over.

50th over: India 147-1 (Mandhana 92, Raut 18) Both these Indian batters look in good order, playing straight, waiting for the ball to come onto the bat, not taking any unnecessary risks. It’s hard to see how Australia are going to make any breakthroughs with pace unless a rash stroke appears from out of the blue. Perry continues to look unthreatening.

49th over: India 145-1 (Mandhana 91, Raut 17) No swing, seam, or uneven bounce to report today, so Mandhana can trust the bounce and drive squarely for two then present the full face of the bat to meet a Sutherland half-volley and send it back down the ground for an effortless four. Mandhana is such an elegant player to watch. Minimal movements, great control, and superb timing.

48th over: India 138-1 (Mandhana 84, Raut 17) Mandhana gets a couple from another Perry full toss that’s miss-fielded by Campbell at mid-on. Perry overcorrects and the Indian left-handed shovels a single down to fine-leg. A couple of yorkers test Raut, but she’s alert to them and playing nicely in the V.

47th over: India 135-1 (Mandhana 81, Raut 17) Annabel Sutherland shares pace duties with Perry. The young allrounder only bowled one over yesterday, but she starts promisingly today with her strong action and nip off the pitch pushing Raut back in her crease, beating the inside edge on one occasion and drawing a false stroke next ball that dribbles away for a single.

46th over: India 133-1 (Mandhana 80, Raut 16) Ellyse Perry has been entrusted with the first full over, and it only takes her two deliveries to find a breakthrough! Poor Mandhana. It was a wide full toss and slapped hard to Mooney at point who took a blinding catch low to her right. But hang on. The third umpire is interested. No ball! That was a superb catch, rewarding an awful delivery, but it’s all academic now.

Perry still isn’t running through the crease as we’ve seen previously, but there’s better control of line and length to the left-handed Mandhana.

“How good is it to hear our Australian cricketers mic’d up in the Test match?” asks Jason Richardson on commentary, rhetorically I presume. My answer is “not good, Richo, not good at all.” Let them play cricket. This is a Test match.

45th over: India 132-1 (Mandhana 80, Raut 16) Ash Gardner delivers the five balls remaining from the over that began yesterday. They’re all on the money on a decent length around off-stump and Raut dead bats them all away as she acclimatises to the conditions.

Ha! That answer came pretty quickly. On comes the cricket, live and free in HD. Lovely. The players are out on the boundary edge in their whites ready for play to resume.

It remains to be seen how Australian host broadcaster Channel 7 chooses to show the start of play. Regular programming on the scheduled station (7 & 7HD) has been interrupted following the news that the NSW premier has resigned. The early start already meant there would be no pregame, so it’s currently all down to the pay-TV coverage for the time being.

More good news weather wise from people much closer to the action than I am.