'Frustrated' Mott laments missed chances in one-off Test

A series of dropped catches and a missed opportunity with the ball has left Australia coach Matthew Mott reflecting ruefully on what might have been in the drawn one-off Test against India on the Gold Coast.

After being outplayed by the visitors through much of the rain-affected contest, Australia sat down post-match at Metricon Stadium for a late-night debrief, with a group that included four Test debutantes absorbing some harsh lessons learned with bat, ball and in the field.

"The first word (to describe the Test) would be frustrating," Mott said.

"For a while we've been looking forward to this, we knew India would be a great challenge for us, and we thought we'd hit happy times winning the toss – the wicket had a tinge of green, and we had a very good pace attack.

"But we probably just missed our mark in the first hour and they got away to a really good start.

"We bowled too short and too wide ... we set out, with picking so many fast bowlers, to make the most of the conditions ... it was a bit slower than expected but I still think we didn't execute exactly what we wanted to execute, and we paid a pretty heavy price.

"From there on we just felt like we were just clawing it back a little bit, and India played really well … we were behind for the rest of the game, and they held all the aces.

"They earnt the right to put us under pressure and we never got back in the game.

"Our catching was (also) an issue. We had upwards of eight chances in that first innings."

Mott pointed out that the late withdrawal of vice-captain and opening batter Rachael Haynes with a hamstring injury, as well as the inclusion of four bowling debutantes, meant a shift in their regular philosophy around team balance.

Far from it becoming an excuse, however, it in fact provided the Australians with a silver lining in the form of an excellent bowling performance from Annabel Sutherland, who was in effect Haynes' replacement and thus the final player picked in the XI.

Sutherland only bowled one over on the heavily rain-interrupted day one before being given some long spells on days two and three, during which she frequently troubled India's batters with a good line and length.

"I would always say that you pick your best six batters and then balance your attack around it," Mott said. "But with Rach's leaving the group, it did provide us with an extra opportunity as a bit of a security blanket. Obviously we've got four debutantes there, a lot of bowlers with not a lot of experience and we weren't quite sure how their loads would go and how they would adapt to this format.

"That opened the door for Annabel Sutherland, who came in to bat at seven, and … that paid off … she actually led the attack.

"I thought she was absolutely extraordinary in the first innings (0-31 from 17 overs), and everything we talked about that we got wrong in the first session (on day one), she delivered throughout the rest of the (innings), and she was a real beacon in the attack.

"Obviously losing your vice-captain and one of the best opening batters in the world is a bit of a blow but I think we did our best in that short turnaround."

Echoing Alyssa Healy's sentiments during the Test, Mott was full of praise for India's fast bowlers, who out-performed their younger Australian counterparts by hitting fuller lengths, using the seam effectively, and generally being more consistent in their execution.

And the numbers underline the point: while both sides lost 11 wickets for the match, nine Australians and only five Indians fell to pace bowlers.

"I've just got ultimate praise for the Indian attack in this game, I thought they really set a great blueprint, and it's something our young quicks will learn from," Mott added.

"Generally speaking, they were just more disciplined with their lines.

"I think we got better as the Test match went on, but they were right on from ball one.

"We debriefed a lot of sessions here and just the cricket IQ that these players have developed from this Test match, being exposed to world-class bowlers, different conditions and different situations … just the whole argy-bargy of Test cricket, I don't think you can pay for that (kind of experience)."

CommBank Series v India

Australia lead India 6-4 on points

Australia squad: Meg Lanning (c), Darcie Brown, Maitlan Brown, Stella Campbell, Nicola Carey, Hannah Darlington, Ashleigh Gardner, Alyssa Healy, Tahlia McGrath, Sophie Molineux, Beth Mooney, Ellyse Perry, Georgia Redmayne, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Tayla Vlaeminck, Georgia Wareham

India Test and ODI squad: Mithali Raj (c), Harmanpreet Kaur (vc), Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Punam Raut, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh, Ekta Bisht.

India T20I squad: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Smriti Mandhana (vc), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Sneh Rana, Yastika Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Poonam Yadav, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Arundhati Reddy, Radha Yadav, Renuka Singh.

First ODI:Australia won by nine wickets

Second ODI: Australia won by five wickets

Third ODI: India won by two wickets

One-off Test: Match drawn

Oct 7: First T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 9: Second T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Oct 10: Third T20, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast