Mysuru: India Blue beat India Red India by 18 runs in the final of the One day cricket Tournament, to lift the Challenger Trophy at SDNR Wadiyar’s Stadium here in Mysuru.
Skipper Harman Preet Kaur’s fine all-round performance( 47 and 3/22) and brilliant left arm spin bowling from Preeti Bose who took five wicket haul (5 for 5/43) enabled India blue to register thrilling 18 run win over India Red to retain Women’s Challenger Trophy which was played at SDNRW ground here on Wednesday.
After being put into bat, India Blue resting on fine batting display from Harmanpreet Kaur and useful contribution from opening batswomen Sarika Koli and Thirush Kamini who chipped in with valuable 26 and 22 runs respectively, scored 180 runs in 49.5 overs before losing all their wickets. Opening batswomen Sarika and Kamini got off to good start for India Blue, the duo added 34 runs for the first wicket before Kamini got out LBW to Sneha Rana in the 12th over. Later Paramita Roy and Harmanpreet Kaur added 51 runs for the third wicket before Paramita got out to left arm spinner Rajeshwari Gayakwad caught by wicket keeper R Kalpana.
Again Preet with ideal partner Veda Krishnamurthy, were going on well and added 29 runs for the fourth wicket, but Veda after hitting towards cover region, when she tried to sneak for second run, Shikha Pandey with her powerful arm, three to the wicket-keeper end to dismiss Veda who chipped in with 14 runs. Soon after the dismissal of Veda, Preet tried to accelerate the score but got out caught at midwicket by Punam Raut of Rajeswari bowling after scoring valuable 47 runs for her team which studded with four boundaries. Once she got out in the 45 over when the score was 151 runs, the rest four wickets fell for 29 runs and India Blue got all out for 180 runs in 49.5 overs. For India Red, Sneha Pradhan and Rajeshwari Gayakwad bowled well to take two wickets each.
India Red chasing nearly four runs in an over, got off to flier, with opening batswomen skipper Smriti Mandana and Lathika Kumari got off to best opening stand in the tournament, the duo, left and right hand combination, combined well and added 61 runs for the first wicket. But in the 21st over, offie Anuja Patil came out with a beauty to rattle the stump of Lathika who contributed 24 runs. Again Smrithi along with number 3 Punam Raut were going on well and played well on both sides of the wicket but in the 30th over, left arm spinner Ekta Bisht came out with a beauty to rattle the centre stump to dismiss Smriti Mandana who looked dangerous and even scored the only six in the tournament in the 29th over to Preeti Bose.
She got out after scoring 52 runs from 88 balls which included a mighty six and four boundaries. Again Punam and allrounder Shikha Pandey got off to good start, the duo added 33 runs for the third wicket but Shikha who was looking aggressive was unlucky and got bowled to uneven low bounce of Preeti Bose bowling after scoring valuable 22 runs. Once she got out, due to fine bowling performance from Preeti Bose, the last five wickets fell for just five runs from just 10 balls. Preeti Bose in her tenth over, and teams 48th over took three wickets; she dismissed S Megana, Sneha Rana and R Kalpana. Harman Preet too bowled well to take three wickets. India blue wicket keeper Sushma Verma had a good day, she was responsible for five dismissals, three stumping and two catches.
