The Indian Women's A team suffered a narrow 4-run defeat in the third and final T20 match of the series against Australia A on their tour. In the match played at Mackay, the host Australia Women's A team batted first and scored 144 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs.
Sports News: The Indian Women's A team faced a close 4-run defeat in the last match of the three-match T20 series on their tour of Australia. With this win, the Australia Women's A team completed a clean sweep (3-0) in the series. The match was full of excitement, but in the end, the hosts managed to secure the win under pressure.
Brief Match Overview
In the third T20 match of the series, Australia Women's A team won the toss and decided to bat first. The team scored 144 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in the stipulated 20 overs. Madeline Penna played the highest innings of 39 runs, while other batters also contributed with small but useful innings to take the team to a competitive score. In reply, the Indian Women's A team could only score 140 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs while chasing the target, and lost by 4 runs.
India's Innings: Shafali Shows Form
Chasing the target of 145 runs, the Indian team had a poor start. Dinesh Vrinda and Uma Chhetri both returned to the pavilion with the score at just 16 runs. In this situation, Shafali Verma partnered with Raghavi Bist for 43 runs for the third wicket. Shafali, who had flopped in the previous two matches, showed an aggressive approach in this match.
She scored 41 runs in 25 balls, which included 6 fours and 1 six. Raghavi Bist contributed 25 runs and Minnu Mani contributed 30 runs. Despite this, no batter could play a decisive innings to take the team to victory. It is noteworthy that 6 batters of the Indian team could not even touch the double-digit mark, due to which the team lagged behind even after reaching close to the target.
Sianna Ginger was the most impressive in the host team's bowling. She took 4 wickets and repeatedly shook the Indian batting order. Apart from her, Amy Edgar and Lucy Hamilton took 1 wicket each.
Radha and Prema Shine in India's Bowling
Even though the result did not go in India's favor, Prema Rawat and captain Radha Yadav performed brilliantly in bowling. Both took 3 wickets each and prevented Australia from scoring a big score. Sajeevan Sajana also took 1 wicket. Prema Rawat's performance was excellent throughout the series. She took a total of 7 wickets in all three matches and was the most successful bowler for India.
With this defeat, India suffered a 3-0 clean sweep in the series. The Australia Women's A team performed better in every department—be it batting, bowling or fielding.
