Gold Coast, Oct 1: Flamboyant opener Smriti Mandhana shattered a few records en route to slamming a magnificent maiden Test century as India progressed to 276/5 in the second day's opening session of the day/night match against Australia here on Friday.
The 25-year-old Mandhana became the first Indian woman to hit a century in day-night Tests and also the first from the country to reach three figures in the game's traditional format on the Australian soil.
Mandhana made 127 off 216 balls with the help of 22 boundaries and a six at the Carrara Oval, and added an Indian record of 102 runs in Australia for the second wicket with Punam Raut (36), continuing the good work after putting on 93 with Shafali Verma on a rain-marred opening day.
She brought her century with a short-arm pull shot off Ellysse Perry in the 52nd over.
Mandhana wouldn't have added to her overnight score of 80 in the second over of Day 2 but Perry overstepped. Replays showed that the catch too might have been debatable.
The India opener, however, overcame the early jitters and went about her business in a professional manner while playing some lovely shots, including a magnificent straight drive off Annabel Sutherland.
She looked set for more but was caught at short mid-off off the bowling Ash Gardner, after playing an uppish drive.
Raut walked off after a caught behind appeal despite the umpire not entertaining Alyssa Healy and Meg Lanning's loud shouts.
Brief scores:
India 1st innings: 276/5 in 101.5 overs (Smriti Mandhana 127; Sophie Molineux 2/28).
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Dhanbad (Jharkhand) (PTI): At least four workers died after being buried under coal slurry in Jharkhand's Dhanbad district on Saturday, a police official said.
The incident took place at Moonidih coal washery in the command area of Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL).
"Bodies of all four workers were dug out of debris during a rescue operation," Putki police station in-charge Waqar Hussain told PTI.
The incident took place when coal slurry was being loaded into trucks by workers, during which a large chunk of slurry fell and trapped several workers underneath, officials said.
The deceased have been identified as Manik Bauri, Dinesh Bauri, Deepak Bauri, and Hemlal Gope.
Meanwhile, the family members of the deceased and local villagers placed the bodies in front of the washery gate and began a protest.
They demanded compensation, jobs for dependents and action against those responsible for the incident.
Police and administration officials are trying to pacify the protesters, an official said.
