Aus W vs Ind W: Netizens hail Smriti Mandhana for brilliant fifty in Pink Ball Test

The landmark pink-ball Test match between India Women and their Australian counterparts is currently underway. Smriti Mandhana and Punam Raut are standing tall for Women in Blue at 114/1 after being asked by host skipper Meg Lanning to bat first. While Mandhana is cruising at 70 off 129 after the end of 39 overs, Raut is batting at 8 off 44. India Women have lost one wicket in the form of Shafali Verma, who scored 31 off 64 before being dismissed by Sophie Molineux. 

Before Punam Raut came to bat, Mandhana along with Verma forged a crucial first-wicket partnership of 93 runs to help India provide a solid start. This was the second time in their three innings together as Test openers that Mandhana and Verma forged a 50+ partnership.

Netizens react to Mandhana's fifty

Netizens are hailing Mandhana for her valiant batting effort in Mackay. Before coming to Australia, Mandhana had played 3 Tests and had scored 167 runs at an average of 33.40, including two half-centuries and zero hundred. Mandhana is all set to score her maiden Test century if she keeps on batting for another 10-15 overs. Here's how Twitter reacted to Mandhana scoring her third Test fifty. 

Mandhana's unbeaten 70 is also the highest Test score put up by an Indian woman cricketer in Australia. The previous best score by an Indian woman batter in Australia had come from Rajani Venugopal in 1991 when she had scored 58 runs in Melbourne. Meanwhile, the ongoing Test between Australia and India has been interrupted by rain. The play has been halted and players have left the field to wait for the rain to stop. Tahlia McGrath will resume her spell for Australia once the play restarts on Day 1. Earlier in the day, Australia Women had won the toss and elected to field first. 

Image: BCCI/Twitter