IT was another tough day for Australia on day two of its test match against India, as the hosts continued to pile on the runs. The home side put on 278 in the day to finish the day 157 runs ahead of the Australians.

There were a couple of big partnerships that really propelled the Indians forward. Sneh Rana and Smriti Mandhana put on a 50-run second wicket partnership, before Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues later put on 113 runs for the fourth wicket.

The Indians were further helped by some wayward bowling from the Australians, with 15 leg byes conceded in a total extras tally of 24 thus far. Thankfully for the Australians though, they did have some success with ball in hand, claiming six wickets during the day.

Continuing on from the success she was garnering on day one, Ash Gardner continued to pick up the maidens and pick up the wickets, finishing up day two with a tally of four wickets and seven maidens. She was also by far the most used bowler of the Australian contingent, finishing day two with a tally of 41 overs bowled, compared to the next highest of 19 overs.

However the only other bowler to pick up a wicket on day two was Kim Garth, who combined with Gardner to dismiss Ghosh late in the day after picking up a run out early in the day.

With the test match currently positioned where it is, how much of day three that India bat will be watched with interest. With the shortened Test format in the women’s game, how much longer India bats will show whether India will be looking to go for an outright win or not.

END OF DAY 2 SCORECARD

India (7/376) leading Australia (219)

Smriti Mandhana 74, Jemimah Rodrigues 73, Deepti Sharma 70 not out

Ash Gardner 4/100, Jess Jonassen 1/42, Kim Garth 1/49