[Watch] Sneh Rana's double-strike puts India in driver's seat in one-off Test against Australia

Indian off-spinner Sneh Rana, in a span of a couple of deliveries, ensured that the hosts had stranglehold on Australia in the one-off Test at the Wankhede Stadium on Day 4 on Sunday, December 24.

Pooja Vastrakar had already set the tone for the day with the wicket of Ash Gardner. However, it was Sneh Rana who broke the back of any potential rearguard action from the Aussies by picking wickets of Annabel Sutherland and Alana King on back-to-back deliveries.

Sutherland tried to sweep a delivery which pitched and bounced a bit more than she expected. The ball took a deflection off her gloves before safely settling into the gloves of the wicketkeeper Yastika Bhatia.

While Annabel Sutherland was adjudged not out on the field, the Indians were confident that they had the scalp and DRS proved it right, showing three reds. On the very next delivery, Sneh Rana surprised Alana King with a yorker. While the leg-spinner tried to keep it out, the ball could only trickle back to here stumps off the bottom of her bat.

Here is the video of both dismissals:

---

Sneh Rana's strikes assured India of a small target

The strikes of Ash Gardner and Annabel Sutherland ended the hopes of the Aussies posting a potent score in the second innings. They could just set a target of 75 runs and needed a miraculous start to make things interesting.

While the visitors did strike with the wicket of Shafali Verma in the first over, skipper Alyssa Healy probably missed a trick by not introducing Jess Jonassen straightaway. Given the kind of bite and turn Rajeshwari Gayakwad got from the rough outside the left-handers' off-stump, pitting Jonassen against Smriti Mandhana could have been a great move.

However, both Mandhana and Richa Ghosh will resume their innings after lunch with India at 29/1 and need just 46 more runs to complete their first-ever win against Australia in Tests.

​