MUMBAI: Even as she endured a rare failure, going wicketless on Day 3 of India's one-off Test against
Australia
,
Deepti Sharma
was relieved that her captain
Harmanpreet Kaur
came to the party at the apt hour with her double strike.
Coming on to bowl late in the day, Harman, unleashing her part-time off-spinners, got rid of both of Australia’s set batters, vice-captain Tahlia McGrath (73) and skipper Alyssa Healy (32).
“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-over World Cup in New Zealand. We needed a magical bowler who could get a wicket since the partnership had lasted for a long time,” praised Deepti.
Quizzed about the scrap between Harman and Healy before the latter’s dismissal, the off-spinning all-rounder, who top-scored in India’s first innings with 78, chose to play safe.
“All those things happen in cricket in the heat of the moment. Our focus was only on taking wickets and bowling dot balls. I don’t have much to say on that.”
It was surprising to see that India’s spinners were unable to find success in the second innings, after rolling over the Aussies for 219 on Day 1.
“There were more patches from one side, and we were hoping that the bowlers would get more turn, but the wicket was on the slower side and we did not get much help either. They did play well for which they should be credited. They did not play their usually aggressive game, which they had in the first innings and it helped them as well. It was not that challenging,” she explained.
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