Dehradun. Mussoorie Thunders won the trophy by defeating Nainital SG Pipers by three wickets in the final of the inaugural edition of the Pantanjali Women's Uttarakhand Premier League played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium on Saturday.
Prema Rawat was named Player of the Final for her brilliant allround performance, playing a matchwinning innings with the bat and also making significant contributions with the ball.
Chasing 119, Mussoorie Thunders got off to a poor start when opener Shagun Chowdhary was dismissed for just 1 run. Anjali Goswami and Nandini Kashyap then steadied the innings and took the score forward at a slow pace to take the team's score to 281 by the end of the powerplay.
They then tried to accelerate the run rate and took the score to 601 after 10 overs. Just when the pair looked set, Nainital's Gunjan Bhandari changed the course of the game by taking two wickets in a brilliant over. This included the crucial wicket of Nandini Kashyap, who scored 28 runs and returned to the pavilion disappointed. In the very next over, Mussoorie Thunders suffered another big blow when Anjali Goswami, who was looking in good form, was hit wicket and out after scoring 25 runs.
As the pressure increased and the run rate also started increasing, Prema Rawat brought the team back on the path of victory with her aggressive batting. She reduced the required run rate by hitting some important boundaries. She expressed her aggressive intention by hitting two consecutive sixes in the 14th over and another six in the 16th over and set her eyes on the trophy.
Reena Jindal scored 10 runs off 11 balls but was dismissed in the 17th over. Mussoorie Thunders needed 11 runs off the last two overs.
The match shifted out of Nainital SG Pipers' hands when Gunjan Bhandari bowled three wides in the second last over and an overthrow allowed Prema Rawat and Sakshi Joshi to score extra runs.
In the last over, Mussoorie needed only 2 runs to win. Sakshi Joshi was run out on the very first ball when she tried to take the second run. But Ankita Dhami scored the winning run on the second ball, while Prema Rawat played a brilliant innings of 32 runs in 26 balls to lead the team to victory.
Batting first, Nainital SG Pipers got off to a slow start, scoring 220 in the first five overs. Their opener Manisha Pradhan was run out in the very next over, having scored 13 runs. Her partner Megha Saini too couldn't stay for long and was dismissed by Prema Rawat after scoring just 15 runs (25 balls). After 10 overs, Nainital were 412.
Nainital SG Pipers' batting faltered in the next overs, and wickets continued to fall. Number 3 batsman Kanchan Parihar also departed after scoring 20 runs from 21 balls. Later Kanak Taparnia and Sweta Verma made a crucial partnership of 43 runs, which helped the team recover. However, Rudra Sharma's final over proved disastrous for Nainital, with three wickets falling and their momentum stalling.
Kanak Taparnia scored 29 runs in 15 balls and took the team to a score of 1188. Rudra Sharma was the most successful bowler for Mussoorie Thunders, taking 3 wickets for 20 runs.
Nandini Kashyap of Mussoorie Thunders was the highest run scorer of the tournament, she scored a total of 123 runs in three matches. At the same time, Gunjan Bhandari of Nainital took the most wickets in the tournament, she took a total of 5 wickets in two matches.
Nandini Kashyap performed brilliantly and won three awards. She was selected Player of the Tournament, for which she received a cash prize of Rs 25,000. Along with this, she received the honor of Batter of the League, in which she was given the Orange Cap and a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Apart from this, she also won the title of Emerging Player of the League, which included a cash prize of Rs 10,000. Gunjan Bhandari received the title of Bowler of the League, in which she received the Purple Cap and a cash prize of Rs 10,000.
–INS
– / Written By Top News Bulletin
Image Credit: KhasKhabar.