4 min readUpdated: Mar 8, 2026 09:37 AM IST
It hasn’t quite been a one-woman show in Perth, but there is no doubt as to who has been the star of this Test for Australia. They posted 323 in their first innings and then reduced India to 105/6 at stumps on Saturday — still trailing by 20 runs — in the one-off Test at the WACA.
The sheer weight of Annabel Sutherland’s numbers tells its own story. After her impeccable 129, her Test batting average stands at a Bradmanesque 89.37. In 10 innings across seven Tests, she has crossed 50 four times and converted every single one of those starts into a century. And to complement all of that, she holds a bowling average of 23.26, having picked up six wickets against India in this match alone.
But beyond the statistics, Sutherland’s brilliance lies in the aesthetics of her game. With the bat, she is textbook-perfect in her drives, cuts and pulls, and she barely put a foot wrong during a 171-ball knock studded with 17 fours. With the ball, she has grown in leaps and bounds in recent times and is Australia’s primary death bowler in white-ball cricket. She has had the pink ball on a string in Perth, and the Indians have found her almost unplayable. Late on Day 3, there was a devastating one-two against Harmanpreet Kaur — a length ball that cut away off the pitch from the Indian captain, followed by an inswinger that travelled from well outside off stump to nearly dislodge it, missing the timber by just 3cm according to Hawkeye data.
50 up for Annabel Sutherland, what a player 👏 #AUSvIND pic.twitter.com/wGjpkaOYuD
— cricket.com.au (@cricketcomau) March 7, 2026
Sutherland’s masterful century was ably supported by Ellyse Perry, whose 76 made her the leading run-scorer in Tests for Australia. Perry also surpassed the 1,000-run milestone in the process, becoming the first woman to reach that landmark in all three formats. Arguably the two finest Test batters in the women’s game right now, Perry and Sutherland — through their 128-run partnership — shut down any hopes India might have harboured of putting Australia under pressure in the first session of Day 2.
India, led by a four-wicket haul from Sayali Satghare and crucial strikes from Deepti Sharma, managed to claw their way back to some extent, but the timing of Australia’s declaration meant their batters had to negotiate nearly 30 overs under the lights. Smriti Mandhana was bowled for a two-ball duck in the first over by Darcie Brown, and Shafali Verma went chasing a wide one and was dismissed in the next. Then came a bizarre moment as Jemimah Rodrigues — who had begun her innings with some elegant drives — attempted to scoop Sutherland over the keeper’s head and ended up spooning the ball to Beth Mooney.
Former Australia opener Justin Langer was left bemused on commentary. “That is craziness. In Test cricket, that is a very poor shot. Even if that had gone for four, my personal view would be: ‘What are you doing? Under lights, we were just saying you are playing beautiful cricket.’ It doesn’t make sense, that.”
It rather summed up India’s batting across the three ODIs and two innings of this Test — a recurring tendency to throw away starts. Pratika Rawal’s fighting 43 has at least ensured there will be a Day 3.
Brief scores: India 198 & 105/6 (Pratika Rawal 43*, Lucy Hamilton 3/32, Annabel Sutherland 2/15) trail Australia 323 (Annabel Sutherland 129, Ellyse Perry 76, Sayali Satghare 4/50) by 20 runs
