Rarely do we see a domestic side playing 2 T20 games in one day. But that is what India C did at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack in the ongoing Senior Women T20 Challenger Trophy 2020.
Again winning the toss on a good batting surface, India C captain Veda Krishnamurthy had no hesitation in batting first once again as the trend of the team batting first winning the match had continued. India C on the back of an exceptional start from the dynamic Shafali Verma (46 off 31) who missed out in the last game, came out with a certain motive of being aggressive right from the word go. With some experiments carried out in the batting order, Jincy George (24 off 29) was promoted up the order as Veda Krishnamurthy decided to take a step back and allow other players to get a hit out in the middle. Some lusty blows towards the end by Arundhati Reddy (19 off 11) meant that India C finished at 148 runs for the loss of 8 wickets in 20 overs which was the highest total thus far in the tournament. Tanuja Kanwer, Sushree Pradhan, Renuka Singh were the pick of the bowlers taking 2 wickets apiece.
India B came out to chase the target with an even more aggressive mindset as Captain Smriti Mandhana(24 off 11) and her partner Vanitha VR(26 off 26) provided a quickfire start to their side. After the fall of the openers in quick succession, the 16-year-old Richa Ghosh(36 off 26) took the onus on herself to steer the ship until she was dismissed by Vrushali Bhagat (2 overs 22 runs 1 wicket). At 92/4 after 11.1 overs, Pooja Vastrakar(37 off 21) & R.Kalpana(22* off 24) came together to stitch a partnership of 55 runs which saw their side chase down the highest total of the tournament with 8 balls to spare, also becoming the first side to successfully chase down a total in the competition.
This win for India B will surely give them a lot of confidence going into the final on the 10th against the same side. India C’s confidence, on the other hand, would have been slightly dented by this loss especially after their bowling performance as they would now be looking for the ideal playing 11 for the final.
Brief Scores:
Ind C: 148/8 (20 overs) Ind B: 152/5 (18.8 overs) Ind B won by 5 wickets
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