Mumbai
Smriti Mandhana and the experienced Harmanpreet Kaur shone with the bat as India A defeated Australia A by four wickets in the lung-opener of the three match T20 series here today. Choosing to bat, Australia A scored 160/6 in 20 overs, with Heather Graham top-scoring with 43.

Smriti and Harmanpreet , however, made a mockery of the stiff target as they dominated the Aussie bowlers. The hosts surpassed the target with four wickets and an over to spare.
Left-handed Smriti showed her class after Jemimah Rodrigues (4) and wicketkeeper Taniya Bhatia (0) fell cheaply. She found an able partner in Harmanpreet and the two put the side on the path to victory. When Harmanpreet fell, India A were 126/4, but Pooja Vastrakar saw the team home with an unbeaten 21.

Earlier, apart from Graham, Tahila McGrath (31) and Naomi Stalenberg (39) made useful contributions for the visitors. For India A, Anuja Patil and Deepti Sharma picked two wickets each.