As Smriti Mandhana stepped out of her crease and clobbered a Jess Jonassen delivery – straight over the bowlers head – and to the Wankhede Stadium boundary, India had achieved a second first in the space of a few weeks.
Just over a week earlier, the Indians had beaten England in a Test match at home for the first time. But on Sunday, they scored the first Test win over Australia.
In their 11th match facing the Australians in red-ball cricket, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led team came up with a commanding eight-wicket win. Mandhana brought up the win with a boundary – her sixth in an innings that lasted 61 deliveries and saw her score 38.
Mumbai-girl Jemimah Rodrigues was unbeaten at the other end with 12 off 15, as India wrapped up the win with in an hour after lunch on Day 4.
Alyssa Healy had won the toss for Australia on the opening day and chose to bat. But the Indians, courtesy player of the match Sneh Rana bundled them out for 219.
India then rode on Mandhana’s 74, Richa Ghosh’s 52, Rodrigues’ 73 and Deepti Sharma’s 78 to score 406 in their innings.
Australia managed to overcome the deficit, reaching an overnight score of 233/5, with a lead of 46 at stumps on Day 3.
But Rana, who finished with figures of 3/56 in the first innings and 4/63 in the second, worked well to bowl out the visitors for 261. Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/42), Kaur (2/23) and pacer Pooja Vastrakar (1/40) also contributed with wickets, as India had a 75-run target to chase down.
Shafali Verma got off to a solid start in the chase with a strong drive through the covers, but edged Kim Garth’s delivery to Healy behind the stumps.
Mandhana then combined with Ghosh to score a 51-run partnership before the latter was dismissed by Ashleigh Gardner, with Tahlia McGrath taking a catch.
But the target remained too small to defend, as Mandhana and Rodrigues rotated strike steadily to pick up the runs before the left-handed opener decided to dance down the track and finish the one-off Test with a stylish shot.
The two teams will now compete in a three-match One-Day International series that starts on December 28, followed by a three-game T20 International series from January 5.