Twin tons steer India A to a convincing win against Australia A

Twin centuries from the 15-year-old Shafali Verma and the captain Veda Krishnamurthy laid the winning foundation for India A in Brisbane on Thursday (December 12) against Australia A. With this win, they have started their three-match One Day series with a bang.

Australia won the toss and chose to field first. Their decision seemed to be successful at first when India opener Priya Punia was seen struggling to score. However, it was Shafali Verma who broke the shackle by hitting a boundary past long off in the third over off Sammy-Jo Johnson. Following that, she hit another off Belinda Vakarewa and three in the 5th over off Johnson again.

However, Priya Punia fell after hitting a four off Vakarewa. She tried to cut the ball but ended up giving a catch to Sutherland at the first slip. Shafali, on the other hand, continued her hitting where India lost their second wicket, Dayalan Hemalatha for a duck.

Pressure fell upon the captain Veda Krishnamurthy who joined Shafali Verma in the middle. However, two dismissals affected neither the run-rate nor the approach of Shafali. Initially, Veda took some time to set her eye in and when it's done, Veda too joined the party. Their constant hitting helped India A put up 74 in the first 10 overs.

Both of them started hitting all over the park while the Australia bowlers were clueless about how to restrict them. Verma – who became the youngest Indian to score an international half-century last month, breaking the legend Sachin Tendulkar’s 30-year old record, scored 73 from 49 in a T20I against West Indies and hitting 19 fours and four sixes in her knock

She brought up her hundred in just 63 balls and was looking extremely dangerous. Sadly, she mistimed a length ball from Molly Strano while trying to pull. When she was dismissed for 124 off 78 balls in the 22nd over, she had already scored 124 of her team’s 167 runs. With her dismissal, a fourth-wicket stand of 119 runs had also broken.

After her dismissal, captain herself took the onus on her shoulder, holding at one end and brought up her century as well. She scored a 99-ball 113 before getting dismissed in the 48th over. While she made sure the total reach the 300 marks, Australia bowlers became successful in their plans too as they picked up 9 wickets where India A finished with 312 runs.

Tahlia McGrath picked up 3 wickets while Belinda Vakarewa and Heather Graham took 2 each for Australia A.

While chasing, Australia A didn't get a steady start as the lost Georgia Redmayne for 30 and Bridget Patterson for 6 within the first 10 overs. After their dismissal, Tahlia McGrath and Heather Graham tried to steady the ship where the former took the charge. They both added 70 runs before Tanuja Kanwer dismissed Graham for 27. Although that didn't affect McGrath who tried to score a hundred. However, her hope was dashed when Devika Vaidya took a return catch off her bowling as removed her for a 90-ball 97.

However, the things got changed when Devika Vaidya picked up another three wickets - Erin Burns, Wellington and Maitlan Brown. Annabel Sutherland scored run-a-ball 52 whereas Molly Strano scored a quickfire 32 but those were not enough to get past the line. Bowlers did a great job where Veda Krishnamurthy-led India A restricted them within 296 for 9, registering a 16-run win.

Brief Scores: India A: 312-9 in 50 overs (Shefali Verma 124; Tahlia McGrath 3-48) beat Australia A: 296/9 in 50 overs (Tahlia McGrath 97; Devika Vaidya 4-55) by 16 runs.