On the back of Manali Dakshini's terrific spell and a brilliant display of stroke-making from Shafali Verma, India C on Friday (January 10) defeated India B in the final of the Women's T20 Challenger Trophy by eight wickets.
While Dakshini ended with handsome figures of 3/15, Verma smashed a scintillating 48-ball 89 to help their team clinch the competition title.
Besides Dakshini, Rajeshwari Gayakwad (1/24) and Dayalan Hemalatha (1/29) also delivered economical spells as India C restricted the opposition to just 131/6; only Pooja Vastrakar (43) can look back at the day with a certain sense of satisfaction among the India B batters.
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This was before Shafali played a magnificent knock, glint with 15 fours and two maximums, and allowed her team to rally its way to the 132-run target inside 16 overs, with still eight wickets left in the shed.
Madhuri Mehta (20) got run-out while skipper Veda Krishnamurthy made 15 before she was dismissed by Shikha Pandey (1/31). Shafali and Dayalan Hemalatha (6*) remained not out.
This was a great triumph for India C considering the team dislodged table-toppers India B in the summit-clash; both sides went past easily against winless India A in the league phase.
Brief Scores:
India B 131/6 in 20 overs (Pooja Vastrakar 43; Manali Dakshini 3/15) lost to India C 135/2 in 15.2 overs (Shafali Verma 89*; Shikha Pandey 1/31) by eight wickets
