Ellyse Perry has become Australia’s all-time leading run-scorer in women’s Test cricket in their day-night clash with India at the WACA Ground.

And her successor as the country’s next great all-rounder, Annabel Sutherland, is closing in on a second hundred in as many red-ball innings at the venue, with the visitors being ground down in some stifling Perth heat.

Perry surpassed the legendary Karen Rolton by coming down the pitch and smashing spinner Deepti Sharma down the ground for a boundary to move to 1004 runs at the level, two ahead of the South Australian.

A century looked to be there for the taking for the veteran all-rounder — who overcame a quad injury which ruled her out of the ODI series for the Test but is playing as a pure batter — before she fell lbw to Sharma for 76 after a successful review.

Perry shared a 128-run fourth-wicket stand with Sutherland, who has gone to lunch just short of a hundred of her own with Australia owning a 19-run lead on 4-217.

Sutherland, who is fresh off four first-innings wickets and made 210 in her most recent Test innings at the WACA, is 93 not out, alongside Beth Mooney (10 not out).

Resuming on 43, Perry took no time to reach her half-century, smashing spinner Sneh Rana over the mid-wicket boundary for six in the day’s second over.

Sutherland was also quickly into her work, collecting boundaries from a perfectly-timed late cut and crisp straight drive, but the elder of the pair was not to be one-upped, playing some authoritative drives of her own.

As the mercury got above 40C, India captain Harmanpreet Kaur pulled six bowling changes inside the first hour in a desperate search for a working combination.

Perry’s stroke to bring up the milestone ensured Sharma will be seen in highlight reels of several years to come but the off-spinning all-rounder quickly had her revenge, firing a straighter and flatter delivery into the pads and successfully convincing Harmanpreet to call for a review.

Sharma very nearly claimed two wickets in the over, drawing an edge from Mooney which Rana could not cling on to at slip before Australia’s wicketkeeper had got off the mark.