Mithali's 'Blues' at a rainy Alur

Deepti Sharma's all-round effort helped India Red secure a win over India Blue in a rain-curtailed Women's Senior Challenger Trophy match opener on Tuesday.

Mithali Raj’s half-century was not enough as India Blue lost to India Red by seven runs in a rain-curtailed Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy opener on Tuesday.

Veteran Mithali Raj’s run-a-ball 51 wasn’t enough as India Blue lost to India Red by seven runs in a rain-curtailed Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy opener, near here, today.

India Blue scored a modest 100 for 8 in 20 overs and the Reds were 79 for 3 in 16.3 overs when the play was stopped due to an inclement weather. However Reds were declared the winner as per VJD rule.

Batting first, India Blue had a batting collapse despite Mithali holding the fort at one end with wickets falling like ninepins on the other.

The Indian ODI captain hit seven boundaries and a six. The next highest score was 12 by VR Vanitha (12).

India international Deepti Sharma took 2 for 15 in four overs and then opened the batting to score 45 off 44 balls with six boundaries.

Brief Scores: India Blue 100/8 in 20 overs (Mithali Raj 51 off 51 balls, Deepti Sharma 2/15). India Red 79/3 in 16.3 ocers (Deepti Sharma 45 off 44 balls). India Red won by 7 runs via VJD method.