India vs Australia: Deepti Sharma’s fifty-streak and Jemimah Rodrigues’s sweeping masterclass keeps hosts in command | Cricket News

Deepti Sharma says Test is the format she enjoys the most, because of the time it offers to impose yourself on the game. Jemimah Rodrigues says that those who know her best always thought that she was made for Test cricket even though she has – till now – played just white-ball cricket at the international level. The one-off matches against England and Australia have reiterated this for both Sharma and Rodrigues, as they have been at home in India’s Test homecoming.On Friday, both of them scored half-centuries against Australia, coming at critical junctures in the game, as India extended their dominance to lead 157 runs at stumps on Day 2. Sharma has now scored at least one 50 in each one of the four Tests she has played, as has Rodrigues scoring her second in her second Test. There were four half-centurions from India on a tricky surface, and each of them carried a significant weight as they overcame patches of pressure from Australia to finish on 376/7.
Deepti’s fifty-streak
“An absolute natural all-rounder,” is what coach Amol Muzumdar said about Sharma during the Test against England. He noted in a BCCI.tv interview that he jokingly calls her Stokesy sometimes because of how she can contribute equally with the bat, ball, or on the field.
All three facets were on display against England as she walked away with the Player of the Match award. But on Day 1 against Australia, she didn’t have the best of days on the field – rare for her, as she dropped three catches. Her bowling was tidy, and she picked up two crucial wickets in Alyssa Healy and Jess Jonassen, both well-set at the time.

Valuable with the bat once again 👏👏@Deepti_Sharma06 brings up her fifty with a four 👌👌#TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank https://t.co/jcsf7y9eKW pic.twitter.com/W2zCgPRugJ
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 22, 2023
However, it was with the bat on the second day that she truly stepped up. Sharma came into bat when the scoreboard read 265/6 as India were in the middle of a mini-collapse. Not long back, it was 260/3 and it was then that Australia showed what makes them the best in the game. Soon, Rodrigues would also depart to leave India 274/7 – with a lead of just 55 runs and the daunting task of batting fourth in the match. The pressure was truly on, Australia were on the prowl.
Then came the final session where Sharma, along with Pooja Vastrakar, went unbeaten during a gritty century partnership for the 8th wicket. Both of them were off to slow starts, biding their time to nullify the momentum Aussies had gained thanks largely to Ashleigh Gardner. But gradually, Sharma started upping the tempo as well, using her cuts, sweeps and on-drives to good effect. She finished unbeaten on 70 for her fourth Test fifty, and it was an innings that could well be the difference in the final analysis.

Another solid half-century from @Deepti_Sharma06! 👏 👏
What a vital knock this has been! 🙌 🙌#TeamIndia sail past 350.
Follow the Match ▶️ https://t.co/8qTsM8XSpd #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/RjgREurjID
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 22, 2023
“India showed there are plenty of runs out there if you can just be patient,” Australia coach Shelley Nitschke said at the end of day’s play. “At times probably we weren’t able to build the pressure but they played the long game and when we gave them something to hit, they made sure it went to the boundary. They built really good partnerships which we probably didn’t do as well as we’d have liked. Particularly at the end there, they showed how crucial these partnerships are.”
Nitschke also added the pitch hasn’t behaved much differently from what they had expected to from their time spent training at the stadium in the lead-up. Indeed, the bounce was alarmingly low at a few instances as the likes of Healy, Harmanpreet Kaur and Yastika Bhatia would attest to from their dismissals where the ball shot through at ankle height. But when Sharma and Vastrakar were batting in the final session, they negated the Aussie spin threat confidently and the ball didn’t misbehave as much either.
Rodrigues sweeps it out
If Sharma’s innings was about patience and control, Rodrigues’ was about shot selection and a deep knowledge of the conditions. The Mumbai batter loves playing the sweep but as she had shown against England, she is not overdependent on it. When the pace and length are on offer, she is not hesitant to drive on the up but with the low bounce at the Wankhede, she brought out the sweep with a vengeance. 63% of her runs came on the onside, and all of it was in the arc between fine leg and midwicket.
While her run-scoring was impressive, she was also constantly speaking to debutant Richa Ghosh who scored a solid half-century too. Rodrigues made sure the 20-year-old wasn’t fazed the Aussie chirping around her, helped her focus on the need to build a partnership, and kept patting her on the shoulders every chance she got. And when Ghosh reached her 50, Rodrigues was there waiting with a bear hug and a big smile.

Second Test fifty in as many Tests 👏Another composed batting display 👍
With 7⃣3⃣ runs against Australia, @JemiRodrigues impressed yet again with the bat 👌 👌 #TeamIndia | #INDvAUS | @IDFCFIRSTBank
Watch Her Knock 🎥 🔽
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) December 22, 2023
It was overall a first innings effort in sharp contrast to what unfolded at the DY Patil Stadium against England where India scored more than 400 runs on the opening day after opting to bat first. The Aussie bowling unit, carried Gardner who bowled 36% of the 100 overs bowled in the day, kept the run-rate under check for the most part and the Indian batters had to grind it out. In the end though, the hosts are comfortably ahead in the match and in a position to dictate proceedings when they return to bowl on a weary pitch.
Brief scores: Australia Women 219 vs India Women 376 for 7 (Mandhana 74, Rodrigues 73, Deepti 70*, Ghosh 52, Gardner 4-100) .