India A Women Vs Australia A Women Highlight, 1st T20I: IND A-W Fightback, But Kim Garth Helps AUS A Win By 13 Runs

Hello! We're back with another live blog, and this time it's India A Women vs Australia A Women. Stay tuned for live updates.

India A Women have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Australia A Women.

Australia A Women Playing XI: Tahlia Wilson, Alyssa Healy, Anika Learoyd, Courtney Webb, Madeline Penna, Nicole Faltum (c), Tess Flintoff, Sianna Ginger, Kim Garth, Amy Edgar, Lauren Cheatle

India A Women Playing XI: Shafali Verma, Uma Chetry †, Dhara Gujjar, Dinesh Vrinda, Raghvi Bist, Sajeevan Sajana, Radha Yadav (c), Minnu Mani, Prema Rawat, Saima Thakor, Titas Sadhu

We’re all set in Mackay as Titas Sadhu takes the new ball for India A Women and Alyssa Healy is on strike. A nervous start from Sadhu, she sprays the first ball down leg and it’s called a wide. She pulls it back next up, with Healy letting it go.

The Aussie keeper gets off the mark with a push into the off side for one. Tahlia Wilson joins her and starts steady with a watchful block, then tucks one off her pads for a single. But it’s Healy who finishes the over with intent, a bit of width from Sadhu, and Healy latches onto it, cracking it through the covers for four.

Confident stroke to finish the over, and Australia A are 8 for no loss.

Saima Thakor into the attack now and she starts with a gentle loosener, Healy nudges it into the leg side for a single. Tahlia Wilson takes strike but struggles to connect cleanly, missing the next and then getting off strike with a leg bye.

Healy’s back on and wastes no time, a short one sits up nicely and she pulls it away with ease, racing to the boundary for four! She follows it up with a firm push but finds the fielder. One more to end the over as Healy rotates strike. Australia A looking settled, they move to 25 without loss after 4 overs.

Big breakthroughs for India A. Alyssa Healy was looking dangerous, racing to 27 off just 18 balls with five crisp boundaries, but her stay comes to an end as she skies one off Sajeevan Sajana, safely pouched by Saima Thakor in the deep. Moments later, Prema Rawat strikes.

Tahlia Wilson, who had been playing the anchor’s role, tries to push the tempo but ends up finding Minnu Mani in the deep. She departs for 17 off 23 balls. Australia A lose both openers in quick succession.

Courtney Webb looked to build momentum but Prema Rawat has other plans, a beautiful delivery crashes into the stumps. Webb is gone for 11 off 12, and Australia A are suddenly on the back foot. That’s two wickets for Rawat, and India A tightening the screws in Mackay!

Australia A Women posted 137 for 6 in their 20 overs, anchored by Anika Learoyd’s composed 50* off 44 balls. Alyssa Healy gave them a brisk start with 27 off 18, but regular wickets through the middle, three of them involving off-spinner Shubha Rawat, kept the scoring in check. Nicole Faltum chipped in with a quick 11, while Sianna Ginger’s late cameo helped lift the run rate slightly, as India A's bowlers kept the visitors to a modest 6.85 per over.

India A are off and running with Shafali Verma and Uma Chetry opening the chase. Shafali taps one for a single, and then it’s Chetry’s turn to shine, two lovely boundaries off Lauren Cheatle, both timed to perfection. A couple of dots in between, but Chetry’s looking confident out there.

Shafali Verma succumbs to pressure and loses her wicket after consecutive dit deliveries. Verma steps to reach a floated delivery outisde off and missed to connect to get stumped.

Dhara Gujjar’s struggling stay at the crease came to an end as she mistimed a lofted shot off Ginger, offering a simple catch to Webb. Scoring just 7 off 20 balls without finding the boundary, Gujjar never looked settled and her dismissal put further pressure on the batting side.

Vrinda’s brief innings was cut short as she attempted a loose drive off Flintoff, only to edge it straight to Garth in the slips. Having managed 5 runs off 9 deliveries with a solitary boundary, Vrinda’s dismissal added to her team’s early woes.

Uma Chetry’s fluent knock came to an end on 31 off 31 balls as she tried to lift Edgar over mid-off but only managed to find Webb in the deep. Her innings, studded with four boundaries and a strike rate of 100, provided a much-needed boost before the breakthrough.

Skipper Radha Yadav takes charge of India's chase with flurry of boundaries after coming to the crease. With required run rate mounting, India will look to take game deep securing wickets.

Raghvi Bist ignited India's charge with a momentum-shifting 16th over against Amy Edgar, collecting 13 runs off her bat alone. She began with a couple of runs, followed by a crisp four through the off side and then launched a towering six straight down the ground.

Although Edgar pulled things back with two dot balls to close the over—one to Bist and another to Radha Yadav—it was still a costly one, with India Women collecting 13 runs to move to 94/4 after 16 overs. The required rate remains steep at 11, but this over gave India a much-needed push.

Raghvi Bist's enterprising knock came to an end as she looked to continue the momentum. Trying to take on Ginger, she mistimed her shot and offered a simple catch to Wilson. Bist departed for a quickfire 33 off 20 balls, laced with two fours and two sixes, leaving India Women five down in their chase.

India A Women fell short in a tense run chase, going down to Australia A Women by 13 runs in the first T20I at the Great Barrier Reef Arena in Mackay, despite a spirited effort from Raghvi Bist and Radha Yadav in the closing stages.