IND-W vs AUS-W: 'Harry Di Has A Golden Arm' - Deepti Sharma Hails Harmanpreet Kaur's Bowling

After defeating England in the only Test, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led Indian women’s cricket team are on the verge of defeating Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. India put up a brilliant batting display in the first innings and ended at 406 runs in reply to Australia’s 219. Australia ended the Day 3 of the only Test at 233/5 and currently lead by 46 runs.

While Harmarpreet Kaur didn’t have a very great outing with the bat, the Indian captain showed her skills with the ball and removed two crucial Australian batsmen Ellyse Perry and Tahlia McGrath with the ball. The Day 3 of the only Test was also a part of some major controversial issues.

During the day’s play, the Indian women’s cricket team appealed for obstructing the field against Australian captain Alyssa Healy, however, the appeal was turned down by the onfield umpires.

Indian all-rounder Deepti Sharma, while speaking at the end of the day’s play opened up on the issue and also praised Harmanpreet Kaur for her bowling abilities. Sharma believes that Kaur gets wickets whenever she takes the ball in hand.

Deepti Sharma praises Harmanpreet Kaur’s bowling skills

Deepti Sharma said, “All those things happen in cricket in a heat of the moment. Our focus was only on taking wickets and bowling dot balls. I do not have much to say on that.”

“Harry Di has a golden arm. She always takes a wicket whenever she comes onto bowl. I remember she had taken a wicket right when she came into the attack in the 50-overs World Cup in New Zealand. She is always ready (to bowl). Everyone was bowling but we needed a magical bowler who could get a wicket since the partnership had lasted for a long time. We also got some momentum…”

Team India have an upper hand over Australia

Getting back to the match, the Australian women were restricted to 219 runs in the first innings of the only Test against India. Tahlia McGrath top scored with 50 runs whereas Beth Mooney scored 40 runs. Pooja Vastrakar picked up four wickets for India followed by a three-wicket haul by Sneh Rana.

The Indian girls put up a brilliant show with the bat as they scored 406 in the first innings courtesy of Smriti Mandhana’s 74 and Deepti Sharma’s 78. Ashleigh Gardner picked up a four-wicket haul whereas Kim Garth and Annabel Sutherland picked up two wickets each.

The Indian team are slightly ahead in the match with Australia at 233/5 at the end of the third day of the only Test match. The Indian players will want to wrap up Australia quickly and win the match.

The Indian women’s cricket team have been performing well in the Test format in the last few years and have emerged to be the third big side in world cricket. However, the Indian players have not been able to lift a single ICC title despite playing well in all the tournaments.

Women’s cricket in India has developed over the years with the likes of Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Shafali Varma, and the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur being the top performers of the team in recent years.