Winners Railways clinch the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2019 as they defeat Bengal in the final match of the league
Railways defeated Bengal by 8 wickets to emerge as the winners of the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy. In a battle of the bests, Railways captained by Mithali Raj, chased down the target set by Bengal in the penultimate over to win the 10th edition of the tournament.
After almost a month-long battle and 142 T20I matches between 37 teams, we finally have a winner. Railways who have been dominant the whole league, defeated Bengal in the final match of the tournament at Mulapadu to win the Senior Women’s T20 League.
Bengal won the toss and chose to bat first against Railways. The final match was played at Gokaraju Liala Gangaaraju ACA Cricket Ground, Mulapadu. It was a close contest between the two sides. Both teams have topped their respective tables in the league and super league stages and were unbeaten throughout the tournament. Batting first, experienced Rumeli Dhar steadied the innings for Bengal. She put up a brave 41-ball 48 after the openers were dismissed on low scores. Richa Ghosh also made 24 runs. Captain Prativa Rana was run-out on 12 while Paramita Roy and Mandira Mahapatra contributed 11 and 10 runs to the team’s score respectively. Bengal ended their innings on 121 runs losing 6 wickets. From Railways, it was Ekta Bisht and Swagatika Rath who dismissed 2 batters each.
Mithali Raj and Punam Raut were back for the Railways after finishing their national duties. While Raj was captaining the side, Raut, who opened this game, gave the team a solid start. Along with Nuzhat Parween, Raut put up a 63-run stand for the first wicket when Parween 25(35) fell in the 12th over to Shrayosi Aich. Sneh Rana made 36 runs in 26 balls before Gouher Sultana ran her out. Swagatika Rath was the last batter to come to the crease. Rath made 11 runs and remained not out as she took the team across the line along with Raut. Raut scored a total of 46 runs in 44 balls and remained not out in what was a successful chase for the Railways. Railways made 123 runs and lost 2 wickets in reply, as they won the Senior Women’s T20 Trophy 2019-20 edition.
Out of the 10 times that the tournament has been held in India, Railways have won it 8 times. Bengal became the runners up for the second time- they had lost to the same opposition in the inaugural edition in 2010 too.
Bengal innings: 121/6 in 20 overs
Railways innings: 123/2 in 18.1 overs
Result: Railways won by 8 wickets (WINNERS)
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