India women enjoy the upper hand in the one-off pink-ball Test against Australia, with good bowling and a bit of luck helping their cause.

After declaring their first innings at 377/8, India had Australia in some trouble before the hosts managed to end the day at 143/4, still 234 runs in arrears. Australia were 63/2 at one stage with veteran seamer Jhulan Goswami (2/27) striking twice.

The Aussies were recovering well when captain Meg Lanning (38) was erroneously adjudged lbw by the umpire even though there was an inside edge. Pooja Vastrakar (2/31) was the lucky bowler to get the wicket.

Then Tahlia McGrath (28) hit Vastrakar’s wide and short delivery straight to Smriti Mandhana at point to leave the hosts at 119 for four. The India bowlers tried to tighten the screws further but Ellyse Perry (27 batting) and Ashleigh Gardner (13 batting) survived the test on Day III of the rain-marred match.

It was a landmark day for all-rounder Perry, who became the first Australian woman to take 300 international wickets after she dismissed Vastrakar earlier on Saturday.

The 30-year-old is also the first woman with the double of 5000 runs and 300 wickets in international cricket.

Earlier, Deepti Sharma made a fine 66 for India, finishing as the team’s second best scorer.

The hosts still need 85 more runs to avoid the follow-on. “If we have to win the match, we have to come out with more intent on Day IV and try and break the partnerships and enforce the follow on,” Vastrakar said at the virtual media interaction after the end of the day’s play.

“It is not impossible. We will try. In two sessions we managed to get four wickets, which was crucial. If the intent is there, anything can happen in the game of cricket,” she added.

Australia’s Beth Mooney after being bowled by Jhulan Goswami during the third day’s play of the day-night Test on Saturday. Getty Images

Call for DRS

The Australian camp, however, was left upset with Manning’s dismissal.

Opener Alyssa Healy said that presence of DRS can help get rid of such umpiring howlers. “Definitely, I wouldn’t say no to DRS if it is available. I would love to see it in every Test match. It makes it fair and even and to take out the howler would be a nice thing,” she said.