Darke, Parsons keep 11-wicket Mani at bay

Maddy Darke’s valiant century, followed by her clutch late stumping of star India A captain Minnu Mani, has put Australia A in prime position to seize victory in a see-sawing match on the Gold Coast.

Darke’s unbeaten 105 lifted Australia A out of a pickle on day three as the wicketkeeper-batter patiently defied the visitors’ main bowling weapon Mani, who took 6-92 to add to her first-innings haul of 5-58.

The off-spinning allrounder from Kerala, the first woman from the southern Indian region to represent her country, was then caught short when she charged Charli Knott and missed in the last session.

Darke did the rest behind the stumps on the wearing pitch, an impressive show of concentration and fitness given she had faced 197 balls in a rare red-ball outing coming ahead of this summer’s women’s Ashes Test at the MCG.

"Physically I’m not in the best shape at the minute but it goes to show this format of the game the way a Test will go physically, mentally, tactically," said Darke, whose family watched on as she brought up her second ton of the 'A' series.

"Definitely coming to see what red-ball cricket is about."

India A were 6-149 at stumps on day three, still 140 away from their fourth-innings target of 289.

Australia A’s spinners tightened the screws after the tourists had made a strong start to their chase.

Shubha Satheesh (45 off 98) led India A to 2-106 before Grace Parsons (2-27) capped a tremendous all-round display of her own on Saturday.

The emerging 21-year-old leg-spinner sparked a late collapse of 4-25 when she dismissed Tejal Hasabnis with a ripping leg-break.

It came after Parsons (35 off 57) had held firm with the bat in what may prove a match-winning 75-run partnership with Darke.

The 21-year-old was backed up by off-spinners Knott (2-27) and Lilly Mills (1-15) to put Australia in sight of a win in the last match of the all-format women’s ‘A’ series being held in Queensland.

India A’s tail will now need to show the same resolve their counterparts displayed if they hope to clinch their second victory of the tour after losing five of the six limited-overs games.

Mani, who has credited her Delhi Capitals captain Meg Lanning for recent improvements in her bowling, always loomed as the major threat to Australia A when they resumed on 7-164 on Saturday.

The finger-spinner had taken the first four wickets of the innings the previous day, including two before Australia A had scored. Her subsequent delivery that bowled Tess Flintoff through the gate will take some beating as the ball of the season.

When Mani rattled the stumps of Mills for her 11th wicket of the match to begin day three, Australia’s lead was yet to pass 200.

Parsons and Darke rarely found the rope during their ninth-wicket stand but rotated the strike cleverly to frustrate their opponents.

Darke was still nine runs short of triple figures when Parsons departed, but No.11 Nicola Hancock (3 off 32) grimly held out to allow the Western Australian to get to her milestone.

She brought it up with just her fourth boundary for the innings as Hancock was the last woman dismissed with the home side on 260.

"Every run was going to be crucial on a wicket that is getting harder and harder to bat on," said Darke. "Getting as many as we can and taking it bit by bit was key.

"(Hancock) was definitely playing the team role there and I really appreciate what she did for me. On a personal note I was really thankful for that."

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: Australia A won by eight wickets

Third ODI: India A won by 171 runs

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