Argentina Women Beat Mexico Women by 165 Runs — Francesca Galan's 5 for 5 Seals the Series 2-0

The second half of a double-header is where you learn something about a touring side. Argentina Women had made 260 in the morning; this time they chose to bat and found themselves 91 for 5 in the ninth over, Gabriela Gaby having bowled three of them. What followed was the most mature passage of batting in the series so far: Maria Lehmann (51 not out off 40) and Albertina Galan (37 not out off 37) added an unbroken 97 off 72 balls to take Argentina to 188 for 5.

Then came Francesca Galan. Her figures, 4-1-5-5, are the sort of line a scorer checks twice before inking it in. Mexico Women were bowled out for 23 in 9.3 overs, Argentina won by 165 runs, and with a 2-0 lead the three-match series is theirs.

Maria Mastrangelo was lbw to Tania Salcedo for 5 and Alina Emch bowled by Gaby for 4; Argentina were 15 for 2 in the fourth over. Milagros Bestani answered the only way she knows, eight fours in 34 off 12 balls, before she was caught and bowled by Anna Septien at 57. Gaby then bowled Julieta Cullen and Julia Andujar in the space of five balls and Argentina were 91 for 5 after nine overs, the morning's 260 suddenly a long way off.

Lehmann and Albertina Galan took the quiet route. Their 97 came off 72 balls, Lehmann reaching fifty with seven fours, and no further wicket fell. With the ball, Francesca Galan did almost everything herself: she bowled Zitlalli Hernandez, had Gaby caught by Constanza Sosa, bowled Salcedo, trapped Araceli Perez lbw, bowled Virginia Diaz, and ran out Septien for good measure. Clara Valencia bowled Ivonne Rodriguez, Andujar and Lehmann added run outs, and Mastrangelo finished it with the third ball of her only over.

For nine overs Mexico were genuinely in this game, and that deserves saying. Gaby's 3 for 35 was all bowled, Emch, Andujar and Cullen, and Salcedo's 4-0-14-1 was Mexico's tightest four overs of the day. Reducing a side that had just made 260 to 91 for 5 is not nothing; it is the kind of spell a developing team should hold onto as proof of what its bowlers can do when the lengths are right.

The batting is where the work lies. Nobody passed 2, and three of the ten wickets were run outs, which is the one dismissal entirely in the batters' hands. Judith Diaz, batting at eight, was unbeaten on 2 off 7 and saw out the most balls of anyone except Salcedo and Pastrana; Pastrana's 2 off 9 came in a 14-ball stand of 5 with Salcedo that was, in context, the innings' longest. Mexico's coaches will want the top order to show the same patience the lower order did.

Five wickets for five runs in four overs, one of them a maiden, and a run out thrown in. Four of the five came without a fielder's help: three bowled and one lbw, which tells you she was attacking the stumps every ball. She had already taken 2 for 3 in two overs earlier in the day. In the morning game she batted at five and made 9; in the afternoon she was not needed with the bat at all, and Argentina will not have minded.

This match didn't have a CricIntel preview — we'll have full analysis for the next encounter.

The series is decided, but the third T20I on Sunday still has a purpose for both sides. Mexico have been bowled out for 37 and 23 on the same day; batting out a larger share of their twenty overs would be a real step forward, and their bowlers have shown twice that they can take early wickets. Argentina, 12 for 1 and 15 for 2 here, will want a better start from the top order, and will want to find out whether anyone else can match Francesca Galan's week.