Brisbane, Aug 15 Yastika Bhatia, Radha Yadav and Tanuja Kanwer struck half-centuries each as India ‘A’ clinched the 50-over series against Australia ‘A’ with a narrow two-wicket win in the second game held at Ian Healy Oval on Friday.
Electing to bat first, Alyssa Healy top-scored with 91 off 87 balls to guide Australia ‘A’ to 265/9 in their 50 overs, with the rest of the batting line-up not putting in standout performances.
For India ‘A’, off-spin bowling all-rounder Minnu Mani (3-46) and pacers Saima Thakor (2-30) were amongst the standout wicket-takers for the visitors’, while Radha, Tanuja, Prema Rawat, and Titas Sadhu took a scalp each.
Chasing 266, Yastika Bhatia stood up to hit 66 off 71 balls – her second successive fifty of the ongoing series. But the likes of Shafali Verma, Tejal Hasabnis, and Raghvi Bist contributing 37 runs between themselves, India ‘A’ slipped to 193/7 in the 39th over.
With skipper Radha falling for 60 off 78 balls, many felt an Indian defeat was imminent. But Tanuja and Prema had other ideas up their sleeve. The duo shared a gritty, counter-attacking stand of 68 runs off 62 deliveries for the eighth wicket to take India ‘A’ home with a ball to spare and adding cheerful vibes to the Independence Day celebrations.
While Tanuja hit a crucial 50 off 57 balls and stood out with her behind the square shots, Prema slammed an unbeaten 32 off 33 balls to turn the game on its head, with the latter hitting the winning runs on the penultimate ball of the chase against a bowling line-up which had capped players like Darcie Brown and Kim Garth.
The third and final 50-over match will be held at the same venue on Sunday, with India ‘A’ aiming to complete a clean sweep in the one-day leg of the multi-format series.
Brief Scores: Australia ‘A’ 265/9 (Alyssa Healy 91, Kim Garth 41 not out; Minnu Mani 3-46, Saima Thakor 2-30) lost to India ‘A’ 266/8 in 49.5 overs (Yastika Bhatia 66, Radha Yadav 60; Amy Edgar 2-55, Ella Hayward 2-57) by two wickets
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