Fans forced to sit on shabby seats at Wankhede Stadium during India -W vs Australia- W Test

India women’s team further strengthened their grip in the one-off Test against Australia as they extended their lead to 157 runs on Day 2 on Friday, December 22. The Women in Blue finished the day on 376/7 with Deepti Sharma (70* off 147) and Pooja Vastrakar (33* off 115) at the crease. While India had a brilliant day out in the field, the fans were left a bit frustrated in the stands as they were made to sit on shabby seats.

Notably, the Mumbai Cricket Association has given free entry to all the fans at the Wankhede Stadium to witness the game. However, they didn’t have a memorable experience at the venue due to uncleanliness in the sands. A video of the venue has gone viral on social media where the dirty seats were clearly visible.

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Watch the video here:

Coming back to the match, India resumed their innings on Day 2 on 98/1 in 19 overs with Smriti Mandhana (43*) and Sneh Rana (4*) at the crease. The duo added 50 runs for the second wicket before Rana was cleaned up by Ashleigh Gardner. Mandhana also lost her wicket after scoring 74 (106) due to an unfortunate runout.

Deepti Sharma took India to stumps with an unbeaten 73*

However, the innings was carried ahead by Richa Ghosh and Jemimah Rodrigues as they added 113 runs for the fourth wicket. Ghosh scored a brilliant half-century (52 off 104) with the help of seven fours. Following her dismissal, India lost three wickets in quick succession as Harmanpreet Kaur (0 off 2), Yastika Bhatia (1 off 7) departed cheaply while Rodrigues departed after scoring (73 off 121) leaving India on 274/7.

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After a flurry of wickets, Deepti Sharma (70* off 147) and Pooja Vastrakar (33* off 115) got involved in an unbeaten 102-run stand for the eighth wicket as India finished Day 2 on 376/7. The duo will look to extend their partnership further on Day 3 and build on their lead to mount pressure on Australia.