India A show fight but fall well short of target

Gold Coast, August 25

Incisive bowling by Tess Flintoff (3/39) and Charli Knott (3/34) helped Australia A defeat India A by 45 runs in the women’s one-off four-day game here today.

Chasing a target of 289, India A were bundled out for 243 as they managed to add 94 runs to their overnight score of 149/6 on Day 4.

Overnight batters Raghvi Bist (26) and Uma Chetry (47) played cautiously and added 61 valuable runs to the total before the latter was dismissed by Flintoff as the last recognised India A partnership was broken.

Bist, who emerged as one of the most dependable batters in the multi-format series, too departed in the same over with right-arm pacer Flintoff wrecking the woodwork, as India A slumped to 212/8.

All-rounder Sayali Satghare did put up a fight with a 36-ball 21 but it was not enough on the day.

Australia A had put the visitors on the mat on Day 3 itself with the home team’s spin attack putting them in a precarious situation at 149/6.

Brief scores: Australia A: 212 & 260; India A: 184 & 243 in 92.5 overs (Uma 47, Shubha 45; Knott 3/34, Flintoff 3/39, Parsons 2/37).