Beth Mooney shines in Australian women's mammoth 321-run victory against India A in warm-up game

Mumbai: The Australian women’s team warmed up in style as they thrashed India A by 321 runs in the first of the two practise games held on Tuesday. Put into bat, riding on a superb century by wicket-keeper Beth Mooney (115) , the visitors posted a mammoth 413/8 on the board in their allotted 50 overs and then bundled out the hosts for a partly 92 in 29.5 overs at the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Bandra Kurla Complex facility. The Australian women’s team will play Indian women’s team in a three-match One Day Internationals rubber starting from 12 March at Vadodara and later in a T20 tri-series, the third team being England. [caption id=“attachment_4379007” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image from the warm-up match between India women and Australia women’s cricket team. Image courtesy: Twitter @SouthernStars[/caption] In the first practise game, the Aussie batswomen made the Indian bowlers toil hard. It was Mooney who stole the limelight as she blazed to a quickfire 115 in just 83 balls before being retired out. The other batswomen too chipped in with their valuable contributions as the Aussies went past the 400-run-mark on a pitch which was friendly for batswomen. Opener Nicole Bolton (58 off 38 balls), Ellyse Perry (65 off 58 balls) and Ashleigh Gardner (90 off 44 balls) all had good match practise as they used the conditions well and helped their side post a big total. India bowlers were hit round the park. Kavita went for 54 runs in her seven overs, skipper Anuja Patil gave away 63 runs in 8 overs, while Tanushree Sarkar gave 57 in her seven overs. Asha S was hammered for 55 in her six overs while Sarika Koli also gave 67 runs in her eight overs but picked up three wickets. When it came to batting, the hosts surrendered to the opposition bowlers and did not put up any fight. Wickets fell at regular intervals. The India A batswomen made a beeline to the pavilion — Priya Punia (13), Sarika Koli (11), Neha Tanwar (2), Tanushree Sarkar (4), Anuja Patil (16), Nishu Choudhary (5), wicket-keeper Nuzhat Parween (0) and Kavita (14) all of them failed as the team suffered a huge defeat. For Australia women, Perry (2-14), Megan Schutt (3-24) and Amanda Jade Wellington (2-11) were pick of the bowlers. While the visitors would be happy with their performance, the hosts would be hoping to make a strong comeback in the second warm up game at the same venue on Thursday. Brief Scores: Australia Women (413-8 - Beth Mooney 115, Ashleigh Gardner 90, Sarika Koli 3-67), defeat India A (92 all out Anuja Patil 16, Kavita 14, Megan Schutt 3-24) by 321 runs.