Mackay (Australia): Poor execution with the bat undid India A’s superb bowling performance as Australia A made a clean sweep of three-match unofficial Women’s T20 series, defeating the visitors by four runs in a thrilling match here on Sunday.
Chasing a gettable 144/8 set by the hosts, India’s middle and lower-order batters failed miserably to be restricted to 140/8 after leg spinner Prema Rawat and left-armer Radha Yadav gave their team the best chance in the series by grabbing three wickets apiece.
This was Rawat’s second three-wicket haul in the multi-format series and it prepared the platform for the batters, led by Shafali Verma, to make a match of it.
Shafali finally fired after successive single-digit scores in the previous two games at the same venue but her 41-run contribution (25 balls) was not good enough on the day as she perished to young Brisbane Heat pacer Sianna Ginger, who emerged the wrecker-in-chief for the home team by taking four wickets for just 18 runs.
India shuffled its top order a bit by sending Dinesh Vrinda to open with Shafali, instead of keeper-batter Uma Chetry, who came in at one-down.
However, the experiment failed as Vrinda perished for just four runs and Chetry followed her back into the dressing room soon after as India A were reduced to 16/2.
Shafali and Raghvi Bist (25) forged a 43-run stand for the third wicket before the former departed, bringing in India A’s spin-bowling all-rounder Minnu Mani at the crease. The 48-run stand between Bist and Mani saw India A get past the 100-run mark, raising hopes of a consolation win.
But those hopes were dashed when the Bist was also consumed by Ginger, leaving the visitors at 107/4.
Her dismissal, it seemed, took the fight out of the India A side as it lost wickets in a heap, with the likes of national team stalwart Radha Yadav (12), Tanuj Kanwar (1), all-rounder Sajeevan Sajana (3) going in quick succession as the visitors lost the plot in the last over, when they had to score 15 runs.
In fact, Ginger took two wickets, that of Radha and Sajana, in the 19th over to make things virtually impossible for India A.
Australia A, following their 114-run win in the previous game, were challenged by the Indian spinners, who opened up a window of opportunity by bowling impeccable line and length.
Batting stalwart Alyssa Healy departed for 27 after a dazzling 70-run innings in the last game before Prema and Radha ran through the top and middle-order.
Prema, who had taken three wickets in the opener, was the most destructive, getting rid off prolific young run-getter Anika Learoyd (22) early besides Courtney Webb (1) and the dangerous Madeline Penna (39) as Australia A were restricted to a below-par score.
The three-match unofficial one-day series will commence in Brisbane on Wednesday.
Brief Scores:
Australia A: 144/8 in 20 overs (Madeline Penna 39; Radha Yadav 3/31, Prema Rawat 3/24)
India A: 140/8 in 20 overs (Shafali Verma 41, Minnu Mani 30; Sianna Ginger 4/16).
