India Women's Deepti Sharma on Saturday hailed Harmanpreet Kaur for being a "magical bowler" on a tough third day of the ongoing Test against Australia, after the skipper provided two crucial breakthroughs to provide some relief to her side.
Australia dominated India for the majority of the third day in Mumbai at the Wankhede Stadium in the one-off Test, reaching 233/5 in their second innings with their lead surging to 46.
The visitors wiped off India's 187-run first innings lead riding on Tahlia McGrath's second fifty (73) in the game and Ellyse Perry's 45 and skipper Alyssa Healy contributing with 32.
As Indian bowlers were unable to impose themselves, Kaur came into the attack in the final session and struck immediately to remove both McGrath and Healy.
"Harry di has a golden arm. She always takes a wicket whenever she comes onto bowl," Deepti told the media after the conclusion of third day's play.
"She is always ready (to bowl). Everyone was bowling but we needed a magical bowler who could get a wicket since the partnership had lasted for a long time. We also got some momentum," Deepti added.
Before dismissing Healy, Kaur hurled the ball back at her Australian counterpart angrily in a sudden show of aggression and even appealed against the batter for obstructing the field.
The ball deflected off Healy's bat and ran down to the boundary.
While her appeal was turned down, Kaur dismissed Healy on the next ball itself.
"All those things happen in cricket in heat of the moment. Our focus was only on taking wickets and bowling dot balls. I do not have much to say on that," Deepti said about the incident.
Deepti, who top-scored with 78 in India's first-innings total of 406, said it would be crucial to strike early on the final day.
"The aim will be to take their remaining five wickets as soon as we can in the first half itself — lesser the target the better it would be for us," she said.
"The ball was keeping low on the third day, compared to the first day. It was not that challenging, let's see, the wicket should help the bowlers more tomorrow (Sunday)," she added.
Deepti said Australia's change in approach worked well on the day.
"They did not play their usually aggressive game which they had in the first innings and it helped them as well," she said.
Australia all-rounder Perry hoped an overall lead in excess of 200 should hold her side in good stead given there is just a day's play left in this game.
"That comes down to how long is left and how many runs we have put on the board. But it really matters how long we have got to then bowl at India," Perry replied when asked what would be her team's target on the final day.
"Positively speaking, if we can get close to over a 200-run lead, I think that at least keeps us in the game," she said.
Perry, who added 84 runs with McGrath for the third wicket, said having a clear plan with the bat helped Australia in putting their best foot forward.
"We are just growing into this Test match and adjusting to the conditions as we have gone," she said.
"There was a really clear plan with the position in the game to bat for as long as we could and play what was in front of us and without too much mind on what was going to happen next," she added.
Perry praised McGrath for toning down a little from her aggressive game to notch up a quality knock.
"She is having a pretty great Test match. She obviously batted really well in the first innings as well. Tahlia's approach is always attacking, she is a great stroke-maker but today she had great drives (and was) solid on defence," Perry expressed.
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