With spectator-less echoes of Maharashtra Cricket Association here to bear witness, East Zone ended day one of the final of the Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy against South Zone with an advantage of bare margins on Tuesday.
South captain Minnu Mani won the toss and opted to bat in the unforgiving dry heat of the venue. Skipper Deepti Sharma began with pace, and her young speedster Titas Sadhu immediately registered the dividends, cleaning up the South top four within the first 15 overs. The onus then fell on S Sajana and Arundhati Reddy, who have both registered healthy scores in the tournament so far. With the pair looking to deadbeat their way to safety first, they barely took any risks. Deepti struck in the 25th over with a ball that rocked back into her off stump, leaving the frustrated batter walking back with regret.
Trisha Poojitha, Sunanda and S Anusha fell with the team score barely over 80. Arundhati then found support in teenager Shabnam Shakil with a 44-run standoff 77 balls for the ninth wicket - the highest of the innings. The former also reached her half-century, her second in as many games, struggling with heat exhaustion all through. She seemed to slow down with her running during noon, but when South Zone crossed the 100 mark, it gave Arundhati a fresh push to find the ropes. Two sleek shots through cover and point and one through long on gave the South total a push.
Sushree Dibyadarshini soon saw the back of Arundhati after she holed out to Uma Chetry. Deepti bowled Shabnam to wrap up South’s innings for 133 in 54.5 overs.
Titas and Deepti were the pick of the bowlers with four wickets each.
South’s Arundhati Reddy and S Anusha make their way out. | Photo Credit: Lavanya Lakshmi Narayanan
In response, teenager Shabnam Shakil, bowling in tandem with Arundhati, gave South its first breakthrough in the second over itself, removing Uma Chetry for just four runs off six balls. Deepti and Richa Ghosh then steadied the ship with a 34-run stand in 58 balls for the second wicket. Arundhati, despite her physical state, bowled five overs alongside Shabnam but went wicketless. However, she asked tough questions aplenty of several batters, particularly Richa. Minnu then brought herself on and removed off her very first delivery.
A few overs later, she affected a fantastic caught and bowled of Richa, which stayed low. Dhara Gujjar, East Zone’s centurion from the quarterfinal, could not repeat her feat, falling to Sunanda Yetrekar in the 23rd over. From there on, Rizu Saha and Durga Murmu stitched a vital 44-stand off 70 balls for the fifth wicket, which Sunanda broke on the last delivery of the day.
East Zone ended the day trailing South by 25 runs with five wickets in hand.
Towards the end of the day’s play, both Shabnam and Arundhati needed some medical intervention with BP checks, and Electral mixes going around, but the coaching staff allayed fears pointing to dehydration and the adoption of normal recovery protocol ahead of day 2.
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