A historic one-off test between India Women and Australia Women begins tomorrow, 30th September. It is the first time after 2006 that the two teams would be playing a test match against each other.
After three exciting ODIs, as we head forward to the test, it would be interesting to watch out for the playing XI for both the teams which might see some debutants as well.
In a report by Cricket Australia, Australia’s captain Meg Lanning and their coach Matthew Mott has pointed out that the team will have some debutants, one of the most favorites is 19 years old Annabel Sutherland who took a three-wicket haul in the third ODI between the two teams which have been said as a pretty special one because the other bowlers managed to take just 1 wicket and Sutherland, despite getting out on her first ball, came back strongly with the ball and bowled some good deliveries dismissing India’s captain and the star batter Mithali Raj, wicketkeeper Richa Ghosh and all-rounder Pooja Vastrakar, making her captain Lanning offer her more than the decided overs.
Lanning was all praise for this young all-rounder’s splendid performance, saying, “She was excellent. I thought she hit her lengths really well, was consistent with her lines and turned the game back in our favour, which for such a young player is a great thing. She had to wait her turn a little bit to get her crack and today was her opportunity, and I thought she did a great job.”
Another reason for her inclusion could be the green-tinged pitch at the venue for the match that is Metricon Stadium in Gold Coast and with cloudy sky and chances of rain, fast bowlers can be the most benefited. Also, with the team’s vice-captain Rachel Haynes being ruled out due to hamstring injury, the squad would have to make some changes in the top order. Beth Mooney would be promoted to the top which vacant a spot for Sutherland in the middle.
Coach Mott said, “What I’ve really loved about this series for us is, it’s given us a new dimension. We’ve relied pretty heavily on some world-class bowlers over the last couple of years but these young quicks coming through have thrown in a different perspective and it makes us a hard team to set up against. That’s what we found in that last (ODI), even though we didn’t win the game, the quicks coming on in those middle overs and just hitting some hard lengths was very effective. We’re happy with whatever the conditions are but I know there’ll be a few excited young fast bowlers around at the moment.”
Loves all things female cricket
