Shafali Verma and Veda Krishnamurthy starred with the bat as India ‘A’ Women beat Australia ‘A’ Women by 16 runs in the First Unofficial Women ODI at the Allan Border Field in Brisbane on Thursday.

Put in to bat, India ‘A’ scored 312/9 on the back of Verma’s 124-run blitz and skipper Veda Krishnamurthy’s 99-ball 113-run knock which included 16 fours and a six. Meanwhile, Verma, in her 78-ball stay in the middle, hit 19 fours and 4 sixes.

The two joined forces when India ‘A’ were 48/2 and added 119 runs together before Verma got out in the 22nd over.

Veda Krishnamurthy though brought India closer to 300-run mark before falling in the 48th over off Tahlia McGrath, who picked up three wickets in the match.

After scalping three wickets, McGrath also starred with the bat, scoring 97 off 90 balls while opening the batting for Australia ‘A’.

While Annabel Sutherland scored a fifty and Heather Graham and Molly Strano chipped in with 27 and 32 not out respectively, Devika Vaidya’s four-wicket haul helped India cross the finish line.

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

Brief Scores: India ‘A’ Women 312/9 (Shafali Verma 124, Veda Krishnamurthy 113; Tahlia McGrath 3/48) beat Australia ‘A’ Women 296/9 (Tahlia McGrath 97, Annabel Sutherland 52; Devika Vaidya 4/55) by 16 runs