New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS): Leg-spinner Priya Mishra grabbed a sensational five-wicket haul to help India ‘A’ thrash Australia ‘A’ by 171 runs and secure a consolation win in the third 50-over match at the Great Barrier Reef Arena on Sunday.
After half-centuries from Tejal Hasabnis and Raghvi Bist took India ‘A’ to 243/9, Priya took a wicket on her first ball and ended up with figures of 5-14 in five overs, including two maidens, to bowl out Australia ‘A’ for just 72 in 22.1 overs, though the hosts’ ended up taking the series 2-1.
In the chase of 244, Charli Knott and captain Tahlia McGrath fell to S Yashasri and Meghna Singh respectively, before Priya’s show began by castling opener Maddy Darke and dismissing Tess Flintoff to leave Australia ‘A’ in tatters at 52/4 in 14.4 overs.
She then trapped Nicole Faltum and Kate Peterson lbw in quick succession, before dismissing Nicola Hancock, followed by captain Minnu Mani taking two wickets to give India ‘A’ a big consolation win.
Earlier, a 104-run partnership between Raghvi (53) and Tejal (50) took India ‘A’ out of trouble, making it the third straight time the duo were involved in rescuing the visitors’ with the bat. This time, Raghvi and Tejal got into the rescue act after Kiran Navgire, Shweta Sehrawat and Uma Chetry fell inside first ten overs.
The duo of Raghvi and Tejal hit seven boundaries each in their respective fifties and carry India ‘A’ to 147 before the latter was dismissed in the 28th over by Kate. Four overs later, Raghvi fell after being castled by Charli, with doubts arising on India ‘A’ crossing 200-run mark.
But Sajeevan Sajana (40 and Minnu (34) played handy knocks to ensure India ‘A’ went beyond the 200-run mark, and set themselves up for the first victory of the visitors’ on the multi-format tour. Both teams will now play in the one-off red-ball match, to be played in Gold Coast from August 22.
Brief scores: India ‘A’ 243/9 (Raghvi Bist 53, Tejal Hasabnis 50; Maitlan Brown 3-39, Charli Knott 2-26) beat Australia ‘A’ 72 in 22.1 overs (Maddy Darke 22; Priya Mishra 5-14) by 171 runs