There are four points available for winning the Test – the first time the teams have met in the format since 2006
Toss Australia chose to bowl vs India
Six players will make their Test debuts in the day-night clash at Metricon Stadium with Australia and India facing each other in the format for the first time in 15 years.
Australia have handed out four caps to Darcie Brown, Stella Campbell, Georgia Wareham and Annabel Sutherland which means that two of the most exciting young quicks in the game – Brown and Campbell – will be paired together. Brown took 4 for 33 in the first ODI while Campbell made her debut in the third match. They will get first crack with the ball after Meg Lanning inserted India on a cloudy but dry day.
The home side are without a number of experienced players. Megan Schutt and Jess Jonassen are not part of this entire multi-format series while Rachael Haynes was ruled out with a hamstring injury picked up in the third ODI. Wareham suffered a quad strain during the second ODI but has recovered to take her place in an attack including three spinners.
India have included Yastika Bhatia, who impressed in the ODI series, to fill the role vacated by the injured Harmanpreet Kaur while swing bowler Meghna Singh is part of the attack. Sneh Rana, who played against England in the Bristol Test earlier this year, drops out with left-arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad, who was not picked for the England tour owing to injury, partnering offspinner Deepti Sharma.
The multi-format series currently stands at 4-2 in Australia’s favour with four points on offer for victory in the Test and two for the draw. Six points are then available in the three T20Is.
There is a forecast for showers and storms over the first two days of the four-day game but Saturday and Sunday are set to be fine and dry.
Australia XI 1 Alyssa Healy (wk), 2 Beth Mooney, 3 Meg Lanning (capt), 4 Ellyse Perry, 5 Tahlia McGrath, 6 Ash Gardner, 7 Annabel Sutherland, 8 Sophie Molineux, 9 Georgia Wareham, 10 Darcie Brown, 11 Stella Campbell
India XI: 1 Shafali Verma, 2 Smriti Mandhana, 3 Punam Raut, 4 Mithali Raj (capt) , 5 Yastika Bhatia, 6 Deepti Sharma, 7 Taniya Bhatia (wk), 8 Pooja Vastrakar, 9 Jhulan Goswami, 10 Meghna Singh, 11 Rajeshwari Gayakwad
Andrew McGlashan is a deputy editor at ESPNcricinfo