Villani smashes fifty as Australia A cruise

Elyse Villani has made a statement in her return to Australia A colours, hammering a half-century to lead her team to an emphatic victory in the opening T20 against India A.

After the Australia A attack – led by Molly Strano’s two wickets – restricted the tourists to 9-112 from their 20 overs, Villani smashed an unbeaten 62 from just 36 deliveries to help her team home in just 11.1 overs with nine wickets in hand.

Villani cleared the boundary at Gold Coast’s Bill Pippen Oval three times in her whirlwind knock, as she shared an unbeaten 68-run stand with Sammy-Jo Johnson, who relished playing at her home ground, hitting a speedy 48 not out from 24 deliveries.

Experienced international Villani was omitted from Australia’s limited-overs squads that met West Indies and Sri Lanka in September and October, with the 30-year-old determined to prove a point ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup on Australian soil.

Allrounder Johnson is another player hopeful of making that squad, while fellow batters Erin Burns, Bridget Patterson and Heather Graham will be looking to make an impact in the two remaining games of the three-match series.

With the ball, off-spinner Strano continued to impress after collecting seven wickets in three 50-over games against the same opposition last week, picking up the key wickets of India A opener Tania Bhatia (5) and captain Veda Krishnamurthy (1) to finish with 2-17 from her four overs.

In what was a dominant display with the ball, Tahlia McGrath (2-23 from three overs), Annabel Sutherland (1-13 from three) and Graham (1-19 from four) also stood out.

Australia A and India A will meet again on Saturday at the same venue at 1pm local time.

Australia A T20 Squad: Maitlan Brown, Erin Burns, Josie Dooley, Heather Graham, Phoebe Litchfield, Tahlia McGrath, Bridget Patterson, Sammy Jo Johnson, Molly Strano, Annabel Sutherland, Belinda Vakarewa, Elyse Villani, Amanda-Jade Wellington

India A squad: Veda Krishnamurthy (c), Anuja Patil (vc), Priya Punia, Shafali Verma, Harleen Deol, Devika Vaidya, D Hemalatha, Tanusree Sarkar, Sushma Verma (wicket-keeper), Nuzhat Parween, Mansi Joshi, Arundhati Reddy, Renuka Singh, Manali Dakshini, T P Kanwar

Australia A v India A

First OD: India A won by 16 runs

Second OD: Australia A won by 81 runs

Third OD: Australia A won by three wickets

First T20: Australia won by 9 wickets

Second T20: December 21, Bill Pippen Field, Gold Coast, 1pm

Third T20: December 23, Bill Pippen Field, Gold Coast, 10am