Cricket
Mithali Raj's Railways lift the Senior Women's One Day Trophy 2021
Railways were named the champions of the Senior Women’s One Day Trophy 2021 as they cruised to an easy seven wicket win over Jharkhand.
Mithali Raj - Captain of the Indian Railways team
Railways led by Indian skipper Mithali Raj were named the champions of the Senior Women's One Day Trophy as they cruised to an easy seven-wicket win over the women from Jharkhand in Rajkot today.
Opting to bat first after winning the toss, nothing really went right for Jharkhand as the Railways women restricted them to a below-par 167 in their fifty overs. At one stage, it felt as if the women from Jharkhand would struggle to even bat out their quota overs but they somehow managed to, thanks to a valiant 39* from skipper Mani Niharika.
Other than Niharika, wicketkeeper Indrani Roy (49) and middle-order south-paw Durga Murmu (31) were the only batswoman who managed to put up a noteworthy contribution, as the rest simply failed to get going.
For Railways, off-spinner Sneh Rana was the pick of the bowlers scalping 3-33 in her 10 overs, while left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht (2-33) and pacer Meghna Singh (2-22) provided ample support. On the other hand, Poonam Yadav and Swagatika Rath chipped in with a wicket apiece.
Chasing a very modest 168 to win, the Railways had a torrid start as they lost their wicketkeeper batswoman Nuzhat Parween for a duck with just 4 runs on the board. Coming in at number 3, the in-form Punam Raut (59) stitched a wonderful 107 run stand for the second wicket with opener Sabbhineni Meghna, before she was prized out by Ravinder Devyani with just 57 more to get for the win.
Meghana (53) fell soon after that, thanks to Devyani (2-38) yet again, to leave Railways at 124 for 3 with 44 more to get.
Just when it seemed that Railways would falter, Mona Meshram (19*) and Sneh Rana (34*) joined hands to guide Railways to their 12th Senior Women's One Day title.
