Mack hits hundred to lead Australia A to victory

Katie Mack says she was determined she would not let the chance to score a hundred in Australian colours slip through her fingers after the opener led Australia A to victory over India A in Mackay.

Needing 250 for victory in the opening one-day game at Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mack struck 129 from 126 deliveries to set up an eventual four-wicket win.

The ACT opener started cautiously in tricky conditions before upping the ante as three figures approached, eventually raising the bat for a century from 106 deliveries.

Her dismissal in the 45th over, which came with Australia A just five runs shy of victory, triggered a mini-collapse of three wickets in four balls before Kate Peterson hit the winning runs with 18 balls to spare.

Australia A captain Tahlia McGrath continued her good run, hitting 56 from 61 balls during a 135-run stand with Mack.

Earlier, Nicola Hancock struck two early blows and Maitlan Brown took three at the death as India A posted 9-249, courtesy of two excellent knocks from Raghvi Bist (82 from 102) and Tejal Hasabnis (53 from 67).

Mack’s hundred followed knocks of 39, eight and 10 in the three T20s in Brisbane last week and, after getting another start, Mack was determined to make the most of it on Wednesday.

"I kept saying to myself in that last little bit just to keep me focused, like 'Hey, you've gotta score a hundred in Aussie clothes, it might never happen again and you've worked so hard, so make sure this one's the one'," Mack said after the game.

"I'm really glad. It swung a little bit early, and then died down a little bit. But I think the challenge was hitting the boundaries, finding the boundaries, with a bit of a slow wicket with not much pace on the ball.

"It was a bit of a slog, lots of running, but I just was super focused to make sure that I made the most of the start."

Mack had a busy off-season, opting to spend it in the United Kingdom playing for Lancashire Thunder in the 50-over Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy.

At age 30, Mack said she was determined to spend as much time playing as possible.

That trend will continue in the coming months. Mack will remain in Brisbane following next week's four-day game against India A and will feature in the T20 Max competition.

That will be followed by the start of the Women's National Cricket League season, while she will turn out for Adelaide Strikers in the inaugural T20 Spring Challenge that will lead into Weber WBBL|10.

"I hold myself to quite high standards, and I was a little bit, 'You can't play all this cricket and go worse, so make sure you're getting better from it'," she said.

"But yeah, I think cricket is very much about confidence and getting on a run. And if I can score as many runs (as possible) in these games, and then I'm going to stay and play T20 Max, and then we've got the new T20 Spring Challenge, so I'm hoping that by the time we hit the Big Bash especially that I'm firing."

Mack has long been one of the top batters on the domestic scene but the sheer depth in Australian cricket means she has not been able to crack the senior national team.

The Australian selectors were at Mackay on Wednesday watching Australia A in action, but Mack said she was just eager to make the most of the opportunity in front of her.

"I mean, it is important, but I don't think it's a big focus for me," she said.

"I think I've experienced enough to just sit back and enjoy one, being selected at this level and that recognition for little hard work I've done to get here.

"And really I've just been having fun, I've just been enjoying it. It's been such a fun group of girls, so I haven't really been focused on how I've gone ... it's really just been about make sure I enjoy, it might never happen again, who knows."

Women's Australia A v India A Series

First T20: Australia won by five runs

Second T20: Australia won by eight wickets

Third T20: Australia won by seven wickets

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum (wk), Tess Flintoff, Kim Garth, Nicola Hancock, Charli Knott (vc), Katie Mack, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Parsons, Kate Peterson, Tayla Vlaeminck, Tahlia Wilson

First ODI: Australia A won by four wickets

Second ODI: August 16, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 1.20pm (D/N)

Third ODI: August 18, Great Barrier Reef Arena, Mackay, 1.20pm (D/N)

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke, Sophie Day, Nicole Faltum (wk), Tess Flintoff, Kim Garth, Nicola Hancock, Charli Knott (vc), Katie Mack, Tahlia McGrath (c), Grace Parsons, Kate Peterson, Tayla Vlaeminck, Tahlia Wilson

Four-day match: August 22-25, Gold Coast District Cricket Club, 9.30am

Australia A squad: Maitlan Brown, Maddy Darke (wk), Sophie Day, Emma de Broughe, Nicole Faltum (vc), Tess Flintoff, Charli Knott (c), Katie Mack, Lilly Mills, Grace Parsons, Kate Peterson, Courtney Sippel, Georgia Voll

India A squad: Minnu Mani (c), Shweta Sehrawat (vc), Priya Punia, Shubha Satheesh, Tejal Hasabnis, Kiran Navgire, Sajana Sajeevan, Uma Chetry (wk), Shipra Giri (wk), Raghavi Bisht, Saika Ishaque, Mannat Kashyap, Tanuja Kanwar, Priya Mishra, Meghna Singh, Sayali Satghare, Shabnam Shakeel (subject to fitness), S Yashasri. Standby: Saima Thakor