India A bowlers led a spirited fightback but Australia A tightened grip on the unofficial one-off women’s Test, with the hosts’ overall lead surging to 192 runs here on the second day on Friday (August 23, 2024).

India A skipper Minnu Mani completed her match haul of 10 wickets but Kate Peterson returned an impactful 12-5-16-5 to hand Australia a slender 28-run lead in the first innings, as the visitors were bowled out for 184 in reply to the host’s 212.

Resuming at 100/2, India A looked on course to take a substantial lead but fell short as Peterson ran through the middle order.

India’s set batters Tejal Hasabnis (32) and Shweta Sehrawat (40) were the first to fall as the tourists lost five wickets for 27 runs before Sayali Satghare (21), Mani (17) and Mannat Kashyap (19) put up 56 runs to deny Australia a huge lead.

Mani then swung into action with the ball immediately as Australia A batters’ once again struggled against Indian spinners. The off-spinner first removed opener Georgia Voll and her Australian counterpart Charli Knott for ducks in consecutive overs to reduce the hosts to 0/2 at one stage.

Mani, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the first essay, also got rid of Nicole Faltum (16) before she cleaned up Tess Fintoo with an off-break.

However, opener Emma de Broughe continued to hold fort from one end as she scored 58 runs off 117 balls before falling prey to rookie leg-spinner Priya Mishra.

Wicketkeeper Maddy Drake took matters into her own hands by hitting an unbeaten half century (54 not out of 100 deliveries) to lead Australia’s recovery further as the hosts reached 164/7 at the end of play.

Drake added 54 for the sixth wicket with Maitlan Brown (26 off 45) before the latter became Mani’s tenth wicket in the game.

Brief Scores: Australia A 212 and 164 for 7 (Emma de Broughe 58, Manddy Darke 54 not out; Minnu Mani 5/47) lead India A 184 (Shweta Sehrawart 40, Tejal Hasabnis 32; Kate Peterson 5/16) by 192 runs.

Katie Mack of Australia A in action during the International T20 match between Australia A and India A at Allan Border Field on August 09, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Fine half-centuries by middle-order batters Raghvi Bist and Tejal Hasabnis went in vain as India A Women lost their opening one-day match against Australia A by four wickets, with Katie Mack scoring a century for the winners here on Wednesday (August 14, 2024).

This is the fourth successive defeat for India A on their tour of Australia following their 0-3 whitewash in the T20 series in Brisbane.

India, after setting a modest victory target of 250, thanks mainly to Tejal’s 53 (67 balls, 7×4) and Raghvi’s 82 (102 balls, 6×4), were thwarted by Aussie opener Katie’s 129 (126 balls, 11×4).

Katie enjoyed fruitful half-century partnerships with fellow opener Maddy Darke (27) and Charli Knott (26) and a century stand with skipper Tahlia McGrath (56) as Australia easily won the opening game of the three-match one-day series.

India’s pace bowling stalwart Meghna Singh (2/43) and spinner Minnu Mani (2/53) took two wickets each.

With only a handful of senior Indian players in the side, India had an inauspicious start, losing openers Shweta Sehrawat (1) and Priya Punia (6) cheaply. At 56/3, India A was in dire straits but Tejal and Raghvi, both making their one-day debut for the country, stitched a 55-run partnership to take the visitors past the century mark.

Raghvi also shared half-century stands with skipper Mani and Shipra Giri (25 not out) as she gave the visitors a respectable total to defend.

Brief scores: India A 249 for 9 in 50 overs (Tejal Hasabnis 53, Raghvi Bist 82; Nicola Hancock 2/40, Maitlan Brown 4/23, Grace Parsons 2/40).

Australia A 250 for 6 in 47 overs (Katie Mack 129, Tahlia McGrath 56; Meghna Singh 2/43, Minnu Mani 2/53).