Australian batter Phoebe Litchfield was run out for a diamond duck in India

Australia got off to the worst possible start in the one-off Test in India including one of the rarest dismissals in cricket.

Rising Australian star Phoebe Litchfield was forced to despondently leave the field without facing a ball in her maiden Test innings in India after being run-out for a diamond duck.

The 20-year-old batting phenom was left high and dry by her opening partner Beth Mooney on the the final ball of the opening over of the one-off clash in Mumbai when confusion between the batters allowed the home team an easy first wicket.

Litchfield started, then stopped after Mooney pushed a ball towards the off-side and ultimately was left short of her ground in the worst possible start for the tourists, playing their first red-ball game in India since 1984.

Things got worse in the next over when superstar all-rounder Ellyse Perry, after hitting a boundary first ball, was clean bowled the very next delivery, leaving Australia at 2-7 before Mooney and Tahlia McGrath set about making a recovery.

🚨 Australia's Wickets 🚨

Phoebe Litchfield and Ellyse Perry out.#INDvAUS#INDvsAUSpic.twitter.com/XjrB35bKAR

— Crazy CricZone (@crazycriczon) December 21, 2023

The shocking start came after new captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bat with wrist spinner Georgia Wareham left out of the Australian side in a surprise selection decision as left-arm quick Lauren Cheatle was named to make her debut.

Cheatle, who first played for Australia as a teenager in 2016, will return to international cricket for the first time in nearly five years in Mumbai.

The 25-year-old swing bowler has endured shoulder reconstructions and a cancer scare in 2021 that threatened to derail her career but earnt a call-up to the Test squad last month off the back of strong WBBL form and will take on a new ball role alongside Kim Garth at Wankhede Stadium.

Baggy Green no. 184 is yours forever, Cheats 💚

Go well out there! #INDvAUSpic.twitter.com/J4QzB0wGj1

— Australian Women's Cricket Team 🏏 (@AusWomenCricket) December 21, 2023

Healy said she expected conditions to favour spin bowling and suggested only one specialist quick would be taken into the game, but the tourists opted to leave out Wareham, with Jess Jonassen, Alana King and Ashes hero Ash Gardner to carry the spin-bowling duties.

Wareham was also left out of the Ashes Test, with her sole red-ball game against India on the Gold Coast in 2021.

Healy won the toss and elected to bat, with Beth Mooney and Phoebe Litchfield to open and Ellyse Perry named at three.

The Australian captain will bat five after confirming on Wednesday that she would continue to occupy a middle-order role in the Test side.

“I’ll probably be down in the middle order, I think it’s probably a tough ask to come out and open the batting and wicketkeep, particularly here in India where the wickets are quite tough,” Healy said on Wednesday.

“So I’ll slot in the middle order and let the other two do their thing.”

India made one change to the side that demolished England by 347 runs in their Test clash last week, with Richa Ghosh replacing Satheesh Shubha, who suffered a broken finger while warming up on the second day of the match.

India v Australia Test teams

India: Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Yastika Bhatia (wk), Richa Ghosh, Deepti Sharma, Pooja Vastrakar, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Renuka Singh Thakur, Sneh Rana.

Australia: Beth Mooney, Phoebe Litchfield, Ellyse Perry, Tahlia McGrath, Alyssa Healy (wk), Annabel Sutherland, Ash Gardner, Jess Jonassen, Alana King, Kim Garth, Lauren Cheatle.

Originally published as Australian batter Phoebe Litchfield was run out for a diamond duck in India