Mumbai, Dec 22 (IANS): Having played India in a Test match in 2021, the Australian team was expecting India to come out and fight hard in home conditions, Shelley Nitschke admitted and said her team did not play at its best so far in the one-off women's Test between the two teams at the Wankhede Stadium here.

After bowling out Australia for 219 on the opening day, India rode on half-centuries by Smriti Mandhana (74), Richa Ghosh (52), Jemimah Rodrigues (73) and Deepti Sharma (70 not out) to reach a commanding 376/7 at stumps on the second day, enjoying a lead of 157 runs on first innings and in a great position to extend it on the third day of the match.

Nitschke said she was not surprised at the way the Indian team has performed so far in this match.

"India have been an amazing team for a while now. And we had a really good Test match against them in the Gold Coast (Carrara in 2021), and that was a really tough game as well, which was rain-affected in the end, But I'm certainly not surprised by the way they came out Fighting in these conditions and you know, we haven't played our best either. So it's not taken me by surprise," said the 47-year-old coach who took over from Matthew Mott recently.

Australia had a chance of taking control of the match after claiming four quick wickets to reduce India to 276/7 at Tea and a lead of 50-odd runs. But the hosts added 100 runs to the score in the final session thanks to a superb eighth-wicket partnership between Deepti Sharma and Pooja Vastrakar.

She said that it was a challenging day for them but not the toughest of her career as a coach.

"There have been a lot of challenges on the way but Yeah, it's been a tough day out there today. So, I think it's just about looking at the positives and picking ourselves up and coming back in tomorrow. But I think coaching, every time you get challenges all along. So whether it's the toughest day? So let me say, it will all depend on how we shape up tomorrow," she said.

Nitschke defended Australia skipper Alyssa Healy for not giving a single over to experienced allrounder Ellyse Perry, who had bowled four overs on Thursday. Healy used eight bowlers in all but used seven of them on Friday, employing off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner for 41 overs in all. Alana King was the next most used Australian spinner with 19 overs.

"I think, someone alluded to before, that we have so many bowling options, in our team and unfortunately, she didn't get an opportunity today to use Ellyse. I think the spinners were doing a really good job at times. And I think we showed there too, that, you know, probably the likes of Alana King were bowling well. It also played a role. So, we've got so many options. Unfortunately, Ellyse missed out today," she said.

The Australian team's chief coach said it has been a tough first match for skipper Healy and said she handled the pressure well.

"Yeah, it's obviously been a tough Test match for us so far. We probably haven't played our best cricket and I think she (Healy) knows that very well. You know, she sort of is always good to have a chat with at the breaks and Tries her best to do what we can to change the game around. So, you know, I think she handled the pressure really well. She has a big workload being the keeper as well as the captain, which isn't easy. But I think she handled it extremely well, and she's got a lot of support from some senior players out there as well," she added.

Nitschke praised off-spinner Ashleigh Gardner for bowling tirelessly, claiming 4-100 in 41 overs.

She said Gardner gives the ball a lot of revs and is very consistent, putting the ball at a spot repeatedly.

"I think Ash is just a real classical offspring, and she gets a lot of revs on the ball. In this format, it's just consistency. I think she's just continually able to put the ball in a good spot and ask questions. With the revs that she puts on the ball, she's able to extract whatever she can't have a wicket. So I think a combination of that with her consistency, coming back into the right-handers, just enables her to keep persisting and keep asking questions to the batters. So yeah, she's been fantastic today and she was in the Ashes as well," said the Australian coach.

She said her team will try and make a comeback again in this Test and take things forward from that position.