India A 184 and 149 for 6 (Shubha 45) need 140 more runs to beat Australia A 212 and 260 (Darke 105*, de Broughe 58, Mani 6-92)
Australia A were on course for victory in the four-day game against India A as they worked their way through some stubborn top-order resistance after Maddy Darke's outstanding unbeaten 105 and set a tough target.
Darke, who had her family watching on, helped add 96 further runs in the morning as the lower order, led by Grace Parsons at No. 10, provided important support, but India A gave themselves a good base in the chase before the home side's spinners combined to do the majority of the damage as the visitors lost 5 for 42 across 21 overs.
"Physically [I'm] probably not in the best shape at the minute, but really goes to show this format of the game, the way it tests you both physically, mentally and tactically as well. Come to see what red-ball cricket is all about," Darke said after then keeping wicket for the rest of the day.
"[It was about] just keeping it really simple, playing the right shot to the right ball as long as possible. Going back out there today, every run was going to be crucial on a wicket that's getting harder and harder to bat on."
Captain Charlie Knott broke the opening stand by having Shweta Sehrawat lbw and fellow offspinner Lilly Mills ended a second-wicket stand of 52 in 23 overs when Priya Punia was well taken in the covers by Georgia Voll.
Legspinner Parsons produced an excellent delivery to have Tejal Hasabnis caught low down at gully then Tess Flintoff provided the only wicket for pace so far in the innings with the key dismissal of Shubha Satheesh, although she did not seem pleased with the caught-behind decision.
India A captain Minnu Mani tried to break the shackles but ran past a delivery from Knott and the impressive Parsons struck again to have Sajeevan Sajana caught in the off side. At that stage a three-day finish looked a possibility, but Raghvi Bist and Uma Chetry negotiated through to the close.
Australia A had resumed with a lead of 192 but lost Mills early when offspinner Mani took her match haul to 11 wickets. However, Parsons showed her batting prowess to form a ninth-wicket stand of 75 with Darke who was content to give her plenty of the strike.
Darke, who had come in with Australia 53 for 4 on the second day, was on 91 when Parsons fell but No. 11 Nicola Hancock was able to see her through to a superb century, brought up by just the fourth boundary of Darke's innings when she pulled Sayali Satghare through midwicket. It was Darke's second century of the multi-format tour after her unbeaten 106 in the second one-dayer.
"She [Hancock] was definitely playing the team role there and I really appreciate what she did for me," Darke said. "The whole family is here - mum, dad, brother - think they saw the opportunity for a one-four flight rather than a four-hour one [to Western Australia] so it's really special. They are massive supporters of me."
