Australia A level series against India A in Brisbane

India A opener Priya Punia's (112) century went in vain as a clinical all-round performance from Australia A helped them beat India A by a whopping 81 runs in the second One Day match in Brisbane on Saturday (December 14).

India A won the toss and chose to field first. Put into bat, Australia A lost their opener Tahlia McGrath for mere 2 which brought Bridget Patterson in the middle. She along with anther opener Georgia Redmayne put up 33 runs in the first 10 overs. They took some time to set their eyes in and added 98 runs before Devika Vaidya provided with the second breakthrough. Patterson mistimed the ball and hit it in the air and it went back to bowler itself and she fell for 47.

However, Mcgrath made another 57-run stand with Heather Graham (34), before Annabel Sutherland’s golden duck left Australia A in a critical situation for 162 with the loss of 4 wickets after 32.5 overs. Till then it seemed India A captain Veda Krishnamurthy took the right call in the toss. However, someone has some other plans in mind.

Erin Burns joined McGrath at the crease and within no time she opened her arms. Her first boundary came through the fine leg off Manali Dakshini whereas the first maximum came off Anuja Patil over the long-off region. She took the onus and started hitting all over the park. Her free-flowing shots soon took her to the half-century where India A's decision to bowl first simply backfired.

Burns who originally came into the squad as a replacement for Sophie Molineux hit four boundaries off Dakshini in the 44th over. She chose Devika Vaidya to reach the three-figure mark, scoring three consecutive sixes and smashed a 55-ball 100. She hit another six in the final over before getting stumped in the penultimate ball, scoring 107 off 59 balls (13*4, 5*6).

The allrounder has been a part of Australia's squad for the last two series but failed to keep his place intact. However, Burns' century made her claim stronger for the upcoming T20 World Cup in February 2020. Devika Vaidya picked up 2 wickets while conceding 72 runs in her 10-over spell. Apart from her, Mansi Joshi, Manali Dakshini and Tanuja Kanwer picked up one each.

India A got off to a flying start where Priya Punia opened her account with a boundary past the third man while Shafali Verma also joined the party. The 15-year-old only knows to hit from the start and they both started dealing n boundaries which saw India A put up 61 runs in the first 10 overs. Both rotated the strike pretty well and timely boundaries saw them added 98 runs in 17 overs.

However, Molly Strano cleaned up Shafali who mistimed a length ball and hit at mid-off and fell for a quickfire 36-ball 46 (5*4, 1*6). Strano picked up Dayalan Hemalatha in a 2-ball duck and put a brake on their fluent scoring. Veda Krishnamurthy joined Priya in the middle and tried to resurrect the chase. They added 107-runs before Krishnamurthy fell for 40 off 58.

Priya Punia played the anchor's role, notched up her hundred off 113 balls before getting dismissed for 112 off 127 (16*4, 2*6). However, they failed to resurrect the innings and lost their last eight wickets for mere 29 runs. Annabel Sutherland bagged a four-wicket haul whereas Molly Strano picked up 3 for Australia A. The final will take place in Brisbane on Monday.

Brief Scores: Australia A: 315-5 in 50 overs (Georgia Redmayne 113*; Devika Vaidya 2-72) beat India A: 234-10 in 44.1 overs (Priya Punia 112; Annabel Sutherland 4-26) by 81 runs.