Helen Maynard-Casely at the WACA

Australia have the upper hand after the first day in their one off Test against India. India batted first and despite several batters getting good starts, the visitors struggled to 198 runs in their first innings. Today not only marked the start of the Test, but also the first game since the West Australian Cricket Association ground’s upgrades were completed. The players greeted not only new stands and manicured grass hills, but also the novelty of people spectating as they queue for a water slide that snakes down one of the light towers. (The opportunity to actually watch the cricket from within a swimming pool will definitely be indulged by this author at some point in the proceedings).

The teams took on the WACA pitch and heat today in the 152nd Women’s test. To put that into context, the most experienced Test player competing today, Ellyse Perry, was contesting her 15th Test match. In the time since she made her Test debut in 2008, the Australian men’s side have played 196 Test matches.

So this rare contesting of the format inspires much joy, always coupled with a little trepidation. The joy was apparent with the awarding of a baggy green to Lucy Hamilton, and the trepidation evident in both sides batting form.

Harmapreet Kaur led a side changed somewhat from the ODI series, adjusting for injuries and looking for players to suit the conditions. Australian captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and put the visitors into bat, with Hamilton’s excitement extending to the first wicket of the match, when she took out Smitri Mandhana’s middle stump in the 5th over. Shafali Verma capitalised on a cautious start to her innings, but with 35 runs on the board, she nicked an Annabelle Sutherland delivery to the waiting gloves of keeper Beth Mooney. By the first break of the day India were on shaky ground at 4/99 with captain Kaur and Pratika Rawal also out.

Into the late afternoon diminutive Jemimah Rodrigues worked to push the looming Australian field out and away from her. With both Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield fielding under the lids close in, she seemed surrounded and isolated from Deepti Sharma at the other end. They weathered this close field that accompanied Ash Gardner’s bowling waiting for their chances. As crowd favourite Alana King was brought in midway through the second session, Rodrigues took her chance – putting several boundaries away. This accelerated her towards her half century, bringing that up in the 57^th over – off 70 deliveries. But this was to be the only milestone reached by the Indian batters – with Sharma, Richa Ghosh then Rodrigues all sending shots into the waiting hands of the Australian fielders.

As shadows lengthened in the middle session of the day-night match, the Indian tail fought on, Kashvee Gautam in particular hitting a number of good boundaries. But this wasn’t to last, and as night fell so did the final Indian wickets, resulting in a first innings total of 198. Sutherland was the most successful of the Australian bowlers with 4 wickets for her 17 over, conceding only 46 runs; plus three wickets for debutant Lucy Hamilton.

Under lights the Australian openers Georgia Voll and Phoebe Litchfield strode out. Neither looked comfortable in the conditions, and seemed rattled early by India’s pace openers. Voll’s wicket, bowled for only 2 runs by Sayali Satghare, brought the sun-faded helmet of its owner Ellyse Perry to the crease. After weathering some attritional deliveries, Perry released tension by cracking an on drive to the boundary to the delight of the crowd. But the home team were not to find comfort for too long – a lightning quick diving effort from Rodrigues snatched a seemingly impossible catch to dismiss Litchfield.

Suddenly Healy and Pez were at the crease together, and as much as many of us hoped it would never end, the classic partnership was relatively short-lived with Healy getting dismissed by Sayali’s bowling forcing her to hit an uppish shot for an easy catch by Rodridges. The day was seen out at the crease by Pez and Pez 2.0 (aka Sutherland), with both settled under the floodlights and with Indian bowling in the last part of the day’s play. Australia will return tomorrow with two previous double centenarians wanting to build on what India may already be viewing as an ominous partnership.

Helen (Crystallised Cricket) is a writer based in Dharug and Gundagarra country, and here is writing about a game played on Whadjuk country. She acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands that she writes from.