Elyse Villani slammed an unbeaten 62 while Sammy-Jo Johnson scored a quickfire 48 not out as Australia ‘A’ Women beat India ‘A’ Women by nine wickets in the first T20 at the Bill Pippen Oval in Gold Coast on Thursday.

While Tahlia McGrath and Molly Strano picked up two wickets each, Belinda Vakarewa, Annabel Sutherland and Heather Graham scalped a wicket each as Australia ‘A’ restricted India ‘A’ to 112/9.

Nuzhat Parween was the top scorer for India ‘A’ with 43 runs against her name.

In the chase, Australia ‘A’ were off to a flying start, with Villani scoring a majority of the runs. While McGrath could only score 2, Villani, who hit 9 fours and 3 sixes in her 36-ball stay in the middle, and Johnson, who hit 5 fours and 3 sixes in her 24-ball knock, sealed Australia ‘A’ win with 53 balls to spare.

The second match of the three-match series will be played on Saturday.

Brief Scores: Australia ‘A’ Women 117/1 (Elyse Villani 62*, Sammy-Jo Johnson 48*; Mansi Joshi 1/18) beat India ‘A’ Women 112/9 (Nuzhat Parween 43, Dayalan Hemalatha 20; Molly Strano 2/17) by nine wickets