Anne Bierwisch stars with the ball as Germany whitewash Austria 5-0

Anne Bierwisch, who took a hat-trick in the third T20I, once again starred with the ball taking four wickets as Germany emerged on top beating Austria by 79 runs in the fifth and final encounter of the T20I series completing a 5-0 whitewash at Seebarn Cricket Centre in Vienna on Saturday (August 15).

Emma Bargna finished as the leading wicket-taker of the series with 11 scalps to her name while Christina Gough (239) and Janet Ronalds (230) took the top two spots in the highest run-getters list in the series.

With the series already out of hands, Austria bowlers dished out a much-improved performance to restrict Germany to 129 for 3 in 20 overs. Skipper Anuradha Doddaballapur and Bierwisch, who replaced regular openers Ronalds and Gough on the day, made a slow start reaching 38 without loss at the end of the power play.

Bierwisch, in particular, struggled against Andrea-Mae Zepeda and Valentina Avdylaj (0/32) who bowled a tight line and length, not letting her free her arms. She was eventually dismissed by Jo-Antoinette Stiglitz in the seventh over after a hard-fought 21-ball seven.

Wicketkeeper-batter Karthika Vijayaraghavan (36 not out) joined her skipper in the middle stitching a 26-run partnership for the second wicket before Doddaballapur was caught by Zepeda off Soujanya Chamundaiah for a well-made run-a-ball 31.

Sharanya Sadarangani (three) didn’t trouble the scorers much before Vijayaraghavan and Verena Stolle (23 not out) hung around for the rest of the innings to take the Germans to a respectable total.

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The duo batted cautiously rotating the strike with regular ones and twos while also finding occasional boundaries. Such was the performance by the Zepeda-led side that they conceded just three boundaries in the last eight overs.

Zepeda was the most economical bowler for Austria giving away just 14 runs in her quota of four overs with Stiglitz (1/27) and Chamundaiah (2/15) chipping in.

Chasing 130 for victory, the story was same with the German bowlers, led by Bargna (1/4), going for the kill straight away. The 24-year-old Bargna who had a five-wicket haul in the series broke the deadlock picking Harjivan Bhullar for just two.

Busra Uca (17, 38b) and Rezarta Avdylaj (four) tried to provide some resistance with a 26-run second-wicket partnership but once the former was dismissed, wickets fell like a pack of cards for Austria, who eventually finished at 50 for 8 in 20 overs.

Bierwisch was the wrecker-in-chief for Germany with four wickets conceding just seven runs in her four-over spell including two maidens. Antonia Meyenborg (1/10), Gough (1/6) and Doddaballapur (1/10) picked up a wicket apiece.

Brief scores: Germany 129/3 in 20 overs (Karthika Vijayaraghavan 36*, Verena Stolle 23*; Soujanya Chamundaiah 2/15) beat Austria 50/8 in 20 overs (Busra Uca 17; Anne Bierwisch 4/7) by 79 runs. POTM: Anne Bierwisch.

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