Watch: Punam Raut walks despite the umpire giving her not-out

Punam Raut decided to walk to hand Australia their third wicket. [Image - Getty]

India's Punam Raut showed exemplary sportsmanship spirit on Friday (October 1) as she decided to walk after edging the ball to the wicketkeeper despite the umpire adjudging her 'not out'.

The incident took place on the fourth ball of the 81st over, bowled by left-arm orthodox Sophie Molineux. Molineux bowled a tossed-up delivery and Raut proceeded to lung forward to block it but the ball ripped away from a length and took a faint edge off her bat on her way to wicketkeeper Alyssa Healy.

Watch the video here:

Unbelievable scenes 😨

Punam Raut is given not out, but the Indian No.3 walks!

#AUSvIND | @CommBank https://t.co/xfAMsfC9s1

The Australians reluctantly went up in unison but just like them, the umpire wasn’t sure if Raut had indeed hit the delivery. However, the Indian No.3 made work easy for the official as she decided to walk back to the pavilion, much to the surprise of the Aussies and the commentators.

Raut could have easily stayed her ground as there was no Decision Review System (DRS) available for Australia to reverse the on-field call. But she didn’t and chose to walk back instead. The 31-year-old was greeted with thunderous applause by the Indian dressing room for her gesture.

Raut's dismissal meant India lost their third wicket at the score of 217. The right-hander scored a patient 165-ball 36 which included just a couple of boundaries. It was the second wicket Australia claimed before the dinner break, the first being the prized scalp of Smriti Mandhana.

Smriti Mandhana smashes records en-route to her maiden Test ton

That said, the session once again belonged to one cricketer - the ever-so stylish Smriti Mandhana.

The 25-year-old got a lucky reprieve early in the day when she was caught on a no-ball. However, barring that, Mandhana looked imperious at the crease as she brought up her maiden Test hundred and in the process, she proceeded to break a plethora of records.

and that's how THE HISTORY WAS MADE!🇮🇳

Smriti Mandhana became the First Indian Woman to score a test Hundred on Australian Soil. 😍

https://t.co/p7O8bhXw8i

#AUSvIND #PinkBallTest

Mandhana is only the second Indian batter to score a hundred in a pink ball Test. She joined Virat Kohli on the elite list on Friday (October 1). The champion batter also became the first Indian woman to score a ton in Australia and the first non-English visiting batter to rack up a three-figure score in a Test match Down Under.

Smriti’s knock eventually came to an end in the 69th over when she drove Ashleigh Gardner straight to Tahlia McGrath at short cover.

Since Mithali's 214 at Taunton in 2002, Indian women with international hundreds in opposition's home outside Asia:-

Smriti Mandhana v AUS at Hobart, 2016
Smriti Mandhana v SA at Kimberley, 2018
Smriti Mandhana v NZ at Napier, 2019
Smriti Mandhana v AUS at Carara, 2021
#AUSvIND

With both Raut and Mandhana back in the shed, the onus will now be on skipper Mithali Raj and debutant Yastika Bhatia to take India to a commanding total.