Women’s Challenger Trophy | Harleen and spinners shine as India-A wins big against India-C
The Hindu
India-D romps past India-B in a lop-sided contest with the openers taking the team past the finish line in just 10.2 overs
A brutal onslaught at the death from Harleen Deol took India-A to a total that would prove too good for India-C in the opening match of the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy tournament on Sunday.
Riding on Harleen’s unbeaten 51 off 30 balls (8x4, 1x6), India-A made 160 for two after choosing to bat at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium. In reply, India-C could only manage 126 for eight, thus going down by 34 runs.
The margin would have been bigger but for some lusty blows towards the end by captain Pooja Vastrakar (61, 38b, 4x4, 3x6). By the time she pressed on the accelerator, it was too late.
A brilliant spell – one for 10 from four overs —with the new ball by left-arm seamer Anjali Sarvani had put India-C on the back foot. Then the Karnataka spinners Sahana Pawar and Shreyanka Patil took over, claiming five wickets between them.
India-C could not recover from its poor start, losing both openers, S. Meghana and Kiran Navgire, before the PowerPlay was over.
Earlier, Harleen paced her innings nicely. Her flicked six over square-leg off Pooja in the final over was gorgeous.
She had arrived in the middle after openers Nuzhat Parween (55, 54b, 6x4) and Shivali Shinde (42, 31b, 5x4, 1x6) added 67. The second-wicket stand between Nuzhat and Harleen was worth 59.