Perth, March 6 (IANS) Australia debutant pacer Lucy Hamilton claimed three wickets on a memorable first day as India were restricted to 184/8 in 57 overs at the dinner break in the one-off pink-ball Test at the WACA Ground on Friday.

India, resuming at 99/4 in the first session, lost Deepti Sharma early to Annabel Sutherland before Jemimah Rodrigues and Richa Ghosh stitched together a promising 23-run stand off 62 balls.

Their resistance was short-lived, however, as Richa fell to Ashleigh Gardner and Jemimah, who looked at ease while hitting 52 – her fourth fifty in Tests and second against Australia, flicked off Lucy to square leg and gave the teenager her second scalp.

Lucy struck again to remove Sneh Rana cheaply and complete a three-wicket haul on debut. India’s lower order survived nervy moments, with Kashvee Gautam dropped by Beth Mooney on 16, sparing the visitors from deeper trouble. Kashvee is unbeaten on 22, while Sayali Satghare is not out on seven.

But the session was all about how Australia’s bowlers maintained relentless pressure with the pink ball, exploiting bounce and seam movement on the lively WACA surface, leaving the hosts firmly in command heading into the final session.

Previously, Australia’s pace attack ripped through India’s top order in the opening session and reduced the visitors to 99/4 in 27 overs at tea. Annabel, Lucy Hamilton, and Darcie Brown kept the hosts firmly in control in what is also Australia skipper Alyssa Healy’s final international game.

India are trailing 8-4 in the multi-format series and are playing Tests for the first time since mid-2024. They handed debut caps to Kashvee, Sayali, Pratika Rawal, and Kranti Gaud.

Brief scores:

India 184/8 in 57 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 52, Shafali Verma 35; Lucy Hamilton 3-31, Annabel Sutherland 3-38) against Australia

--IANS

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