Nicola Hancock, Grace Parsons shine as Australia 'A' beat India ‘A’ by 8 wickets

Brisbane, Aug 9 (IANS) Leg-spinner Grace Parsons took four wickets, while pacer Nicola Hancock grabbed three scalps as the duo set the base for Australia ‘A’ to get an eight-wicket win over India ‘A’ and take an unassailable 2-0 series lead at the Allan Border Field on Friday.

The Grace-Nicola combination taking seven wickets for 44 from eight overs was instrumental for Australia ‘A’ in keeping India ‘A’ to a modest 130/9 in 20 overs. In reply, Tahlia Wilson (53 not out) and captain Tahlia McGrath (47 not out) steered Australia A to chasing down the target with 10 balls to spare.

In the first innings, openers Priya Punia and Shweta Sehrawat hit some boundaries, before the latter fell to Nicola when a top-edge was grabbed by Nicole Faltum, who ran to her left to complete an excellent running catch. Raghvi Bist didn’t make most of her promotion to number three to become Grace’s first scalp of the match, while Sajana Sajeevan was castled by Kate Peterson.

Grace came back to take a catch off her own bowling and dismiss Priya, who made a superb 76 in the opening match, for 29 off 26 balls. While Nicola took out Tanuja Kanwer and Sayali Satghare cheaply, Grace dismissed Kiran Navgire and Uma Chetry to complete her four-wicket haul on her Australia ‘A’ debut.

Apart from great bowling, Australia ‘A’ were also spot on with their ground fielding and catching as they succeeded in squeezing out momentum from India ‘A’ innings. In the chase, despite losing Katie Mack (8) and Charli Knott (22), Tahlia Wilson continued her impressive run by hitting six boundaries in her unbeaten 46-ball 53.

Captain Tahlia, who made a golden duck in the opening match, supported her well by hitting five fours and a six in being 47 not out off 38 balls in an unbroken third-wicket stand of 69 to see Australia ‘A’ reach home easily. The third and final game of the T20 series will be played at the same venue on August 11.

Brief Scores: India ‘A’ 130/9 (Priya Punia 29, Minnu Mani 17 not out; Grace Parsons 4-30, Nicola Hancock 3-14) lost to Australia ‘A’ 133/2 in 18.2 overs (Tahila Wilson 53 not out, Tahila McGrath 47 not out; Meghna Singh 1-20, Minnu Mani 1-22) by eight wickets

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