The fans witnessed full-on entertainment on the first day’s play in a contest between Jemimah Rodrigues-led Team C and Minnu Mani-led Team A at Dehradun in the Senior Women’s Multi-day Challenger Trophy. There were some quick counterpunches thrown at each other after skipper Minnu Mani won the toss and opted to bowl first.
Team C’s Tanushree Sarkar made the opposition bowlers toil hard for success en route to her marathon unbeaten century (153* off 278 balls). Skipper Minnu Mani led her side’s bowling attack with an inspirational five-wicket haul and Team C eventually folded for 313 in 98 overs.
In response, Team A got off to a very promising start with solid partnerships at the top of the order. A 52-run opening stand between Shubha Satheesh (48 off 52 balls) and Shweta Sehrawat, another 53-run stand for the 2nd wicket between Shweta Sehrawat (29 off 81 balls) and Vrinda Dinesh, taking their side past the three-figure mark. The Minnu Mani-led side continued to build on the momentum block by block.
Henrietta Pereira and Dinesh Vrinda took the game further with a vital 33-run partnership for the 3rd wicket, but the pair failed to make it into a big one as Henrietta Pereira departed in the 44th over of the innings, with Shuchi Uapdhyay providing the 3rd breakthrough for Team C. Dinesh Vrinda switched gears as M R Magre joined her at the crease and the pair took their side past the 200-run mark en route to their 67-run partnership for the 4th wicket. The partnership placed them in a pole position to take a decisive 1st innings lead.
Shafali Verma broke the ominous stand by removing Dinesh Vrinda (78 off 120 balls) in the 62nd over of the innings to provide the much-needed fourth breakthrough for her side. She completed a calm and composed half-century before getting dismissed. A crucial 38-run partnership for the 5th wicket between wicket-keeper batter Richa Ghosh and M R Magre (47 off 112 balls) got them closer to the 250-run mark.
Saima Thakor broke the stand, by removing the dangerous Richa Ghosh (22 off 38 balls) in the 74th over of the innings to provide the 5th breakthrough for Team C. An unpredictable collapse followed as Team A lost their next four wickets for just 39 runs and are on the verge of conceding first innings lead at 291/9 in 100 overs at the end of the 2nd day’s play, trailing by 22 runs, with the last pair Pragati Singh (11* off 37 balls), and Vasavi Akhila Pavani (3* off 10 balls) standing at the crease. The pair would be keen to wipe off the deficit before they could dream of giving a slender lead to the Jemimah Rodrigues-led side.
A remarkable comeback from the Team C bowling unit towards the later phase of the day’s play has opened up an opportunity for them to make a roaring return in the game. Shuchi Uapdhyay (28-9-90-3), Saima Thakor (13-4-33-2), Shafali Verma (7-2-14-2), Rajeshwari Gayakwad (20-4-42-0), and Tanushree Sarkar (5-1-12-1) were impressive with the ball for Team C at the end of the 2nd day’s play in Dehradun.
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