Pink-ball Test: Rain plays spoilsport after Smriti Mandhana hits maiden ton

Rain wiped out a significant part of the second days play after India opener Smriti Mandhana stole the limelight with a magnificent maiden Test hundred in the historic womens daynight match against AustraliaIndia were 276 for five in 1015 overs when lightning forced the players indoors some time after the dinner break meaning more than a sessions play was wasted due to inclement weather The lightning was followed by rain rendering the outfield wetThe Carrara Ovals excellent drainage system notwithstanding play could not resume as the outfield needed more than a few hours to dry even after the supersopper was employed by the proactive groundstaff The umpires inspected at 830 pm local time before arriving at the decision to call off the remaining days play the second time after a similar experience during the opening days play on ThursdayDeepti Sharma was batting on 12 and Taniya Bhatia was yet to open her account as the players walked off the field and covers were brought onThere will be 108 overs bowled on each of the last two days of the match India lost two wickets in the second session including that of skipper Mithali Raj for 30 and debutant Yastika Bhatia for 19 Mithali who was looking good for a big one was run out after playing a few lovely shotsEarlier flamboyant opener Mandhana shattered a few records en route to slamming a magnificent Test century as India progressed to 2313 in the second days opening session At the dinner break India were strongly placed having started the proceedings at 132 for one The 25yearold Mandhana became the first Indian woman to hit a century in daynight Tests and also the first from the country to reach three figures in the games traditional format on Australian soilMandhana made 127 off 216 balls with the help of 22 boundaries and a six at the Carrara Oval and added an Indian record of 102 runs in Australia for the second wicket with Punam Raut 36 continuing the good work after putting on 93 with Shafali Verma on the opening day She brought her century with a shortarm pull shot off Ellysse Perry in the 52nd overMandhana wouldnt have added to her overnight score of 80 in the second over of Day 2 but Perry overstepped Replays showed that the catch too might have been debatable The India opener however overcame the early jitters and went about her business in a professional manner while playing some lovely shots including a magnificent straight drive off Annabel SutherlandAlso Read Pinkball Test Not thinking about century at the moment says Smriti MandhanaShe looked set for more but was caught at short midoff off the bowling Ash Gardner after playing an uppish drive Raut walked off after a caught behind appeal despite the umpire not entertaining Alyssa Healy and Meg Lannings loud shouts Mithali though got into the job straightaway sweeping and driving Gardner for foursThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever