It was the all-important final that three teams from the current Indian setup in the form of Team A, B & C were playing for at the Barabati Stadium in Cuttack for the coveted Paytm Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Series.
With 6 league games played in 6 days, it was India B & India C locking horns against each other to play in the all-important final on the 10th of January 2020.
These 2 teams played a formality match the day before the big final and India C went on to lose their second consecutive match against India B with India B remaining unbeaten throughout the tournament. India B won the toss and Smriti Mandhana decided to put the runs on the board in the final. Captain Smriti Mandhana (3 off 7 balls) couldn’t quite continue her good run of form as she departed quite early which opened the flood gates for India C to pick up a cluster of wickets at quite a healthy rate. Vanitha VR ( 25 off 17) played her shots but had to control herself as she kept losing partners at the other end with young guns Jemimah Rodrigues (10 off 14), Richa Ghosh (15 off 17) got off to starts but couldn’t quite convert it.
Dear Tweeps,
let us take a moment to acknowledge and appreciate this young talent from India🔥🔥Shafali Verma who scored 89* in just 48 balls today.Her tournament stat reads:
– Most Runs – 189
– Highest Score – 89*
– Highest sr – 156.20
– Most fours – 31
– Most Sixes – 5 pic.twitter.com/XM2E2aBW72— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 10, 2020
But some late flurry of runs in the second half of the innings by Pooja Vastrakar (43 off 22) made a strong case for herself in the mind of selectors as she took the India B side to a respectable total of 131/6 at the end of 20 overs. M.Dakshini was the pick of the bowlers for India C picking up 3 crucial wickets giving away only 15 runs in her 4 overs.
India C openers came out to bat and started hitting the ball as if it was a walk in the park. 15-year-old Shafali Verma showed everyone why she is touted as the No.1 youngster to watch out for in this format. Scoring a smashing 89* off 48 balls at a strike rate of 185.42, Shafali single-handedly took the game away from the grasp of India B in 15.2 overs, clinching the trophy for her side and handing India B their first and the most heartbreaking loss of the tournament. It was all about Shafali in the second innings as India B had no answer to that assault from her. With 189 runs in the entire tournament, Shafali has been the standout performer and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that she will be on the flight to Australia for the much-awaited T20 World Cup.
INDIA C WIN SENIOR T20 CHALLENGERS TROPHY! pic.twitter.com/GUZ62olEL4
— Female Cricket (@imfemalecricket) January 10, 2020
Brief Scores.
India B: 131/6 (20 overs) India C: 135/2 (15.2 overs) India C won the game by 8 wickets
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