Tejal Hasabnis and Anushka Sharma power India A to victory over Australia A

Tejal Hasabnis and Anushka Sharma’s 126-run partnership helped India Women A defeat Australia Women A by four wickets in the first unofficial ODI in Mohali. India chased down 236 with 17 balls to spare to take a 1-0 series lead

Mohali: Tejal Hasabnis and Anushka Sharma stitched a crucial 126-run partnership as India Women A chase down 236 to beat Australia Women A by four wickets in the first unofficial ODI of the three-match series at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium here on Sunday.

The victory gave India a 1-0 lead in the series, with the remaining two matches scheduled to be played on September 23 and 25. The teams will then face each other in a one-off Test from September 29.

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India A were reduced to 46 for three in the chase before Tejal and Anushka steadied the innings with their 126-run fourth-wicket partnership, taking the score to 172.

Anushka was dismissed for 55 off 61 balls, with seven boundaries. Tejal continued to guide the chase and scored 81 off 82 balls, hitting six sixes and five fours.

Nikki Prasad first added 23 runs with Tejal before sharing a 40-run partnership with Sayali Satghare. Satghare scored 25, while Nikki remained unbeaten on 32, hitting five boundaries, as India A reached the target in 41.1 overs.

For Australia A, Tess Flintoff and Frankie Nicklin took two wickets each.

Earlier, Australia A were bowled out for 235 in 46.3 overs after being asked to bat first.

Rachel Trenaman and captain Tahlia Wilson gave Australia a solid start, adding 81 runs for the opening wicket. Trenaman was dismissed for 36, while Wilson scored 48 with eight boundaries.

Australia lost both openers by the time they reached 87. Charlie Nott then joined Katie Mack, and the pair added 62 runs off 54 balls for the third wicket, taking Australia to 149. Nott scored 39, while Mack made 23.

The partnership was broken soon after, triggering a collapse as Australia slipped to 174 for six.

Tess Flintoff and Sianna Ginger added 27 runs for the seventh wicket, while Millie Illingworth and Frankie Nicklin put together 20 runs for the 10th wicket to take Australia to 235.

Vaishnavi Sharma and Nikki Prasad claimed three wickets each for India A, while Amandeep Kaur picked up two wickets.

Australia had earlier completed a 3-0 clean sweep in the three-match T20I series. The visitors won the opening game by six wickets, the second by 30 runs and the third by seven runs.

Brief Scores: Australia A all out for 235 runs in 46.3 overs (Tahlia Wilson 48, Charli Knott 39; Vaishnavi Sharma 3-40, Niki Prasad 3-28) lost to India A 239/6 in 41.1 overs (Tejal Hasabnis 81, Anushka Sharma 55; Tess Flintoff 2-35, Frankie Nicklin 2-49) by four wickets.