Captain Reema Malhotra and Mithali Raj showed they have wise heads on their shoulders as they guided India Blue into the final after their thumping seven-wicket victory over India Green in the Women's T20 Challenger Trophy at Motera Stadium on Monday.
Having lost against India Red last week-end, Blue not only needed to win the contest but also improve their run-rate. Blue's victory meant India Red going out of the tournament on account of poor run-rate.
Reema had no hesitation in inviting Green to bat first. And their bowlers bowled to the plan. Some disciplined bowling from Snehal Pradhan, Sapna Randhwa and Ekta Bisht and misunderstanding between Red batswomen which resulted in four run-outs helped Blue.
In the end, Red aggregated 109/6 thanks to Sulakshna Naik (36 off 42), who got a couple of lives.
Decent start provided by Latika Kumari (27) and Anagha Deshpande (17) was not enough as Blue were struggling.
At one point they needed 50-odd runs in just five overs to qualify for the final. Mithali and Reema changed gears. In fact in the 14th over bowled by Jhulan, Reema gather 12 runs in boundaries.
It was the turning point of the match as Mithali too showed
her prowess with some good cricket book shots and placements. Reema (31*) and Mithali (25*) stitched 53 runs of 37 balls during their unbeaten fourth wicket stand. Blue reached the target at the end of 18th over, two balls before their deadline, to enter the title round.
Brief Scores: India Red: 109 (S Naik 36; E Bisht 1/17) lost to India Blue: 110/3 (Reema 31*, Mithali 25*) - by seven wickets
