India on top early in historic Gold Coast Test

India 1-114 before rain stopped play

Pack the team with pace bowling, win the toss, and send the tourists into bat on a lively Gold Coast pitch. As far as plans go, Australia’s blueprint for the Test match against India was simple and transparent.

Unfortunately for Meg Lanning’s team, even the most straightforward of plans require some measure of precision in the execution. Through wayward bowling and faulty catching, India were able to get away to an exceptional start, led by Smriti Mandhana (70 not out).

Smriti Mandhana got India away to an ideal start on the Gold Coast.Credit:Getty Images

Before a Queensland downpour paused their progress, the Indians were 1-114, having lost only the wicket of Shafali Verma (31), who miscued Sophie Molineux (1-18) to mid-off after earlier being dropped three times on the way to an opening stand of 93.

The surface, which looked very much a faithful recreation of pitches produced on the same type of soil at the Gabba in Brisbane, proved to be something of a slow seamer on the opening day. It will likely quicken up and be harder to bat on in coming days.

Women’s Test matches are so few and far between that they invariably come with a cluster of debutants. Australia handed baggy green caps to Georgia Wareham (presented by Shelley Nitschke), fit again after a quad complaint, and three seam bowlers in Annabel Sutherland (Ellyse Perry), Darcie Brown (Lanning) and Stella Campbell (Mitchell Starc). India, likewise, afforded the honour to Meghna Singh and Yastika Bhatia.

“I was standing next to Maitlan Brown, who was getting a bit teary and emotional listening to Wolfie [Wareham] get her speech, and that made me a little bit emotional as well,” Beth Mooney told the host broadcaster. “[The speeches] hit home as well, obviously people with COVID can’t have their families here. But to talk about this group being a bit more of a family and being entrenched in that, makes it even more special.”

Perry, who had worked tirelessly on refining her bowling action and follow through in the days before the Test, very nearly gave the hosts the perfect start, when she moved the ball away just enough in the second over of the match, coaxing an edge from Shafali that flew low between first and second slips, within tantalising reach of Lanning.

At the other end, Mandhana feasted on a generous helping of short balls from Brown, feeding the opener’s cut and pull shots. One fuller delivery brought a sliced drive that flew at catchable height through point, but both the length and the false stroke were exceptions to the rule for bowler and batter. Brown’s first spell in Test cricket cost her 28 runs in four overs.

Shafali was less assured, and when Molineux was introduced to the attack at 0-70 after a mere 15 overs, she immediately found enough turn and bounce to find the right-hander’s outside edge. Lanning, however, was late to react and the chance skidded past her and down to the boundary.

A third chance went down in Molineux’s next over, when Shafali tried to clear the boundary but could only drive as far as mid-on. Looking a little unbalanced, Sutherland spilled the overhead chance - not so costly as it turned out, given that Shafali went again six runs later and this time was pouched at mid-off.

Mandhana, though, was largely untroubled, finding the boundary no fewer than 14 times and skating towards a century in the company of a determined Punam Raut before the rain arrived. Molineux and Ash Gardner placed something of a clamp on the scoring rate, with Wareham’s leg spin and Sutherland’s seam-up not yet tried among eight bowling options.

Mandhana’s elegance and strength through point were illustrated by how, at one point, Lanning posted no fewer than four fielders in the region, but still she was able to find the gaps. Save for one early edge past slip and a play and miss at Tahlia McGrath just before the rain, she was in full control.

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Daniel Brettig is The Age's chief cricket writer and the author of several books on cricket.Connect via Twitter.

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