Argentina Women Beat Mexico Women by 135 Runs — Julieta Cullen's 58 Completes a 3-0 Sweep in Texcoco

For the third time in two days Argentina Women batted first in Texcoco, and for the second time their top order was gone early: 6 for 1, 9 for 2, 13 for 3 inside four overs, Gabriela Gaby bowling Alina Emch and Julia Andujar, Tania Salcedo trapping Maria Mastrangelo lbw. Mexico Women had never had Argentina in a better position. The player who took it away from them was Julieta Cullen, whose 58 off 40 balls with seven fours was the spine of a recovery to 186 for 7.

Mexico's reply reached 51 in 12.5 overs, their highest total and longest innings of the series, before Maria Lehmann's 2-1-1-3 and Alina Emch's two wickets in five balls closed it out. Argentina won by 135 runs and the series 3-0.

From 13 for 3, Milagros Bestani (25 off 25) and Cullen took Argentina to 69 before Bestani was lbw to Salcedo in the ninth over. Then came the stand that decided the match: Cullen and Albertina Galan (32 off 28) carried the score to 143 in the 16th over, Cullen finally caught by Judith Diaz off Ivonne Rodriguez. Galan was stumped by Jennifer Pastrana off Araceli Perez an over later, and it was left to Clara Valencia (17 not out off 13) and Maria Castineiras (14 off 11) to push the total past 180. Thirty extras helped.

Argentina used eight bowlers in the field, which is the luxury of a series already won. Lehmann's two overs included a maiden and brought three wickets for one run: Judith Diaz caught by Constanza Sosa, Perez bowled, Virginia Diaz caught behind by Milagros Bestani. Mastrangelo bowled a wicketless maiden, and Emch ended it inside five balls, Pastrana caught and bowled and Maddelyn Fernanda bowled.

Nobody should mistake a 135-run margin for a bad day, because by Mexico's own measures this was their best of the week. The opening pair of Anna Septien and Gaby put on 19, the first time in the series Mexico's first wicket had put runs on the board. Septien's 9 off 16, with a four, was the top score; Salcedo's 5 off 6 included a boundary too, and at 36 for 2 in the sixth over the scoreboard looked healthier than it had at any point across the three games. Then the collapse came, 47 for 4 becoming 51 all out, and that is the next thing to work on: holding a position once it has been earned.

With the ball, Salcedo (2 for 26) and Gaby (2 for 35) have been Mexico's best all series, and having Argentina 13 for 3 is something to build a game plan around. Perez took two wickets but bowled eleven no-balls, after seven and eight in the first two games; across the series Mexico conceded 32, 26 and 30 extras. A side that is learning to stay at the crease a little longer each day, as this one is, can only be helped by giving fewer runs away for free.

Cullen came to the crease at 13 for 3 in the fourth over and was the fifth wicket down at 143 in the 16th. In between she made 58 off 40 balls, seven fours and no sixes, which tells you it was an innings of placement rather than power. Across the series she made 41 off 20, 14 and now 58, and this was the one that mattered most: on the only day Mexico's bowlers broke through early, she was the player who made sure it did not count. She also took a catch to remove Salcedo in Mexico's reply.

This series didn't have a CricIntel preview — we'll have full analysis when these sides next take the field.

Argentina leave Texcoco with a 3-0 series win and a different match-winner each day: Maria Castineiras's 87 in the first game, Maria Lehmann's 51 not out in the second, Cullen's 58 in the third, with Francesca Galan's 5 for 5 in between. Mexico's totals went 37, 23, 51 and their innings lasted 11.4, 9.3 and 12.5 overs. That last line is the one their coaches will underline. The gap is wide, but it was narrower on Sunday than on Saturday, and that is how these series are supposed to work.