The 2024-25 Senior Women’s Multi-day Challenger Trophy is underway with four teams namely Team A led by skipper Minnu Mani, Team B led by skipper Harleen Deol, Team C led by skipper Jemimah Rodrigues, and Team D led by skipper Sneh Rana participating in the competition.
The Minnu Mani-led side were up against the Harleen Deol-led side in the 1st game, on the opening day of the Senior Women’s Multi-day Challenger Trophy.
Team B got off to a horrible start after skipper Harleen Deol won the toss and opted to bat first. The Harleen Deol-led side found themselves in deep trouble at 28/4 in the 11th over of the innings. Kanika Ahuja joined Arushi Goel at the crease and the duo led the recovery with a much-needed 112-run partnership for the 5th wicket to take their side closer to the 150-run mark.
Skipper Minnu Mani took the matter into her own hands to break the ominous stand by removing Kanika Ahuja (65 off 129 balls) in the 54th over of the innings to provide the 5th breakthrough for her side. Another crucial 71-run partnership for the 6th wicket between Ayushi Soni and Arushi Goel took them past the 200-run mark.
Skipper Mani returned and picked up the big scalp of Arushi Goel (92 off 210 balls) to provide the 6th breakthrough for her side and bag her 2nd for the day. Arushi fell just 8 runs short of her well-deserved century.
Team B eventually ended the first day’s play with a fighting total of 258/8 in 97 overs. Ayushi Soni (49* off 143 balls) continued to keep the bowlers at bay, with a gritty knock. She’s joined by Nandani Sharma (1* off 16 balls) at the crease.
Minnu Mani (29-10-68-2), Sayali Satghare (16-5-38-2), and Arundhati Reddy (14-5-37-2) picked up a couple of wickets each and were the star performers with the ball for Team A on the first day’s play at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Dehradun.
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