First ever Women’s National Blind Cricket Tournament – Series Summary

Odisha win India’s first-ever Women’s National Blind Cricket Tournament – Series Summary

Odisha became the first team to win the first-ever blind cricket tournament held for women in India. They were announced the champions after they defeated Karnataka in the final match held in Delhi.

A blind cricket tournament for women cricketers was held for the first time in India. The tournament which was conducted by the Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) was held between December 16 to 19 in Delhi.
Siri Fort Sports Complex, DDA Sports Complex in Saket and Tripathi Sports Club, Najafgarh were the three selected venues.

Samarthanam Women’s National Cricket Tournament For The Blind 2019 was a T20 league organized between 7 domestic teams of India. Teams were divided into 2 groups and 9 league matches were played between them. Karnataka topped the Group A while Odisha were the table-toppers in Group B. They both faced each other in the final which Odisha won by 87 runs.

Three matches were held on each day of the league stage, starting from 16th December. Let’s have a look at how the series panned out –

Day One:

Delhi vs West Bengal: On the first day Delhi Women defeated Bengal Women by 9 wickets. They bamboozled Bengal by bowling them out on 32 in 11 overs. Later, Delhi chased the target in 5.2 overs losing only one wicket.

Karnataka vs Jharkhand: Karnataka won over Jharkhand by 7 wickets. Jharkhand captain Geeta Mahto hit a half-century to take the team’s score to 156/6. Karnataka chased the target in 17 overs losing 3 wickets.

Maharashtra vs Kerala: The third match of the day was also won by the team batting second. Kerala Women made 92 runs losing 7 wickets in the first innings. Maharashtra Women chased the target in 11 overs losing 2 wickets.

Day Two:

West Bengal vs Jharkhand: Bengal made 109 runs and lost 6 wickets. Jharkhand chased the score in 12 overs in the second innings courtesy Geeta Mahto’s 41 off 33.

Delhi vs Karnataka: Karnataka defeated Delhi by 7 wickets. Batting first, Delhi made 116 runs as they lost 9 wickets. Varsha 37(26) and Deepika 42(39) helped Karnataka complete the chase in 14 overs losing 3 wickets.

Odisha vs Kerala: Odisha won over Kerala by a margin of 180 runs on the second day. Muni Purty completed her 50 in 34 balls while Phula Soren made 41* off 21 deliveries. The highest score came from the bat of Basanti Hasda who hit 82 runs in 62 balls. Odisha finished on 279/3 as Kerala gave many extras. Kerala in reply, could only make 99 runs and lost 8 wickets.

Day Three:

Karnataka vs West Bengal: Karnataka had a dominant victory over West Bengal. Bengal lost 3 wickets and made 101 runs in 20 overs. Karnataka chased the target in 10.3 overs as the openers did all the work. Renuka Rajput hit a half-century in 38 balls while Deepika made 34 off 28. Both of them remained not out to give Karnataka a 10-wicket win over Bengal.

Maharashtra vs Odisha: Odisha continued their streak of hitting big as they made 242 runs losing no wickets in the first innings. It was again Muni Purty and Basanti Hasda who batted magnificently. While Purty made 89* off 69, Hasda scored 71* off 58. Maharashtra bowlers also gave many wides to add to their woes. In the second innings, Prajakta Ude’s 51* off 62 and Ganga Kadam’s 31* off 34 went in vain as they could only make 132/2 in 20 overs. Odisha won by 110 runs.

Jharkhand vs Delhi: Jharkhand had a close victory over Delhi. Batting first, both of the Jharkhand openers rushed to their half-centuries. Marsa Hessa hit 67 runs in 43 balls while captain Geeta Mahto remained unbeaten on 66(57). They finished on 179/6. While chasing, Delhi opener Namita Cabdw’s 45(51) and captain Ankita Cabdw’s 48(33) were not sufficient as they made 168 runs losing 4 wickets. Jharkhand won by 11 runs.

FINAL: Odisha vs Karnataka

Odisha and Karnataka were the finalists of the women’s national blind tournament. Odisha had the worst possible start as they lost their top performers Basanti Hasda and Muni Purty on golden ducks in the first two balls of the first innings. But Phula Soren 39(27) and captain Lina Swain 33(35) took the innings forward. Karnataka gave them many extras as Odisha finished on 218/8. Karnataka lost as many wickets while chasing but could only make 131 runs. Renuka Rajput 25(27) and Miss Jayalakshmi 30(33) had significant contributions.

Odisha Women won over Karnataka Women by 87 runs in the final to win the first edition of the tournament. Odisha captain Lina Swain was declared as the Player of the Match.

(Scores from cricheroes.in)