Inter-Zonal Red-Ball tournament: Century for Dhara Gujjar; Anuja Patil, Debasmita Dutta claim fifers as women’s multi-day cricket returns

Dhara Gujjar’s century propelled East Zone vs North East Zone, while Anuja Patil’s five-wicket haul helped West Zone keep Central Zone in check on day one of the Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy in Pune.

FILE | Deepti Sharma | Photo Credit: Pankaj Nangia

The Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal Multi-Day Trophy got underway in two venues in Pune with East Zone taking on North East Zone at Pune Cricket Club Ground while Central Zone and West Zone clashed at the D Y Patil Academy, Ambi.

East Zone vs North East Zone

A 216-ball 140 from Dhara Gujjar was the highlight of the day as East Zone cruised to 385/8 at the end of day 1. East Zone, captained by Deepti Sharma, elected to bat and got off to a good start with Uma Chetry and skipper Deepti stitching a 96-run opening stand. Dhara then took on the responsibility of anchoring the innings, with a century that saw 22 fours hit along the way. She had assistance from Rizu Saha and Durga Murmu. North East Zone captain Debasmita Dutta was the pick of the bowlers, taking five wickets and conceding just 76 runs in 32 overs bowled.

Central Zone vs West Zone

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Central Zone lost Nuzhat Parween early. Punam Raut then steadied the innings on one end with the rest of the top and middle order but not being able to convert those into bigger scores. Skipper Sneh Rana’s 97-ball 42 was vital in keeping the scoreboard ticking. Anuja Patil’s fifer helped West Zone keep a check on their rival and not allow them to run away with passages of play with the bat. Radha Yadav also chipped in with three wickets.

In response, in a team comprising of the cream of Indian international crickets like Jemimah Rodrigues and Smriti Mandhana, it was Devika Vaidya and Riya Chaudhari who opened the batting, managing 26/0 in 10 overs at the end of day’s play.

THINGS TO REMEMBER:

Red-ball cricket returns to the Indian domestic ecosystem after 2018.

All matches of the Senior Women’s InterZonal Multi-Day Trophy are three day affairs

North Zone and South Zone are directly in the semifinals by a draw of lots.

The semifinals will be held between April 3 - 5.

The final will be held on April 9.

West Zone squad

Smriti Mandhana (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Anuja Patil, Devika Vaidya, Shraddha Pokharkar, Humairaa Kaazi, Riya Chaudhari, Radha Yadav, Nancy Patel, Sayali Satghare

Rest of the squad: Jagravi Pawar, Amrita Joseph, Neha Chavda

Central Zone Squad

Sneh Rana (c), Nuzhat Parween, Mona, Poonam Yadav, Punam Raut, Mansi Joshi, D Hemalatha, Komal Zanzad, Arushi, Vaishnavi Sharma, Sonal Kalal

Rest of the squad: Soumya Tiwari, Raghvi, Kriti Gupta, Jyoti Damodar Choudhary

East Zone Squad

Deepti Sharma (c), Monikha Das, Uma Chetry (WK), Dhara Gujjar, Suravi S Roy, Durga Murmu, Rizu Saha, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Titas Sadhu, Mamta Paswan, Saika Ishaque

Rest of the squad: Rachna Singh, Richa, Annapurna Banamali Das, Tanmayee Behera

North East Zone Squad

Debasmita Dutta (c), Ningthoujam Devi, Monica Lyngdoh (wk), Purni Maya Guruny, Nabam Yapu, Ayu Sentilemla, Thoudam Mangalsana, Thoudam Niruta, Felfel Pautu, Prodhan Samayita, Yasin Sariba

Rest of the squad: Leeza, Pretika Chettri, Zuali, Abhi