India 'A' bowlers led a spirited fightback but Australia 'A' tightened grip on the unofficial one-off women's Test, with the hosts' overall lead surging to 192 runs here on the second day on Friday.
India ‘A’ skipper Minnu Mani completed her match haul of 10 wickets but Kate Peterson returned an impactful 12-5-16-5 to hand Australia a slender 28-run lead in the first innings, as the visitors were bowled out for 184 in reply to the hosts’ 212.
Resuming at 100-2, India A looked on course to take a substantial lead but fell short as Peterson ran through the middle order.
India’s set batters Tejal Hasabnis (32) and Shweta Sehrawat (40) were the first to fall as the tourists lost five wickets for 27 runs before Sayali Satghare (21), Mani (17) and Mannat Kashyap (19) put up 56 runs to deny Australia a huge lead.
Mani then swung into action with the ball immediately as Australia ‘A’ batters once again struggled against Indian spinners. The off-spinner first removed opener Georgia Voll and her Australian counterpart Charli Knott for ducks to reduce the hosts to 0-2.
Mani, who claimed a five-wicket haul in the first essay, also got rid of Nicole Faltum (16) before she cleaned up Tess Fintoo.