India women vs Australia women: 'Christmas has come early', Hosts react to historic Test victory at Wankhede

The India women’s cricket team ended the year 2023 on a historic note by registering their first-ever Test victory over Australia in Mumbai on Sunday. The Harmanpreet Kaur-led side have now won two successive Tests against two of the oldest and most accomplished teams in women’s cricket in a space of 10 days, beating England and Australia by 347 runs and eight wickets respectively.

Spin-bowling all-rounder Deepti Sharma who starred in the victory over England with a knock of 67 and a match-haul of 9/39, with three other Indians bringing up their half-centuries and Pooja Vastrakar collecting 3/23 in the second essay.

It was a similar story against Australia over the weekend where spinner Sneh Rana played a central role with figures of 3/56 and 4/63 while the likes of Smriti Mandhana (74 and 38 not out), Jemimah Rodrigues (73) and Deepti (78) starred with the bat as India hammered the mighty Aussies by eight wickets at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

Reacting to her team’s exceptional performances over the past two weeks, India skipper Kaur said that the victories were the reward for their hard work over the years.

“Reward for all the hard work we have done for so many years. Credit to the team and the support staff. Reward for the hard work and patience,” Kaur said after the match.

Captain @ImHarmanpreet reflects on a momentous victory and has a special message for #TeamIndia fans