Kashvee, Rajni bowl city to victory
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 25
Kashvee Gautam and Rajni Devi shared nine wickets between them as Chandigarh beat Bihar by seven wickets in their opening match of the Women’s U-23 One Day Trophy at the Ravenshaw University grounds in Cuttack today.
Opting to bat, Bihar were bowled out for a paltry 96 in 43.1 overs as Kashvee and Rajni hunted in pairs. Medium-pacer Kashvee returned figures of 5/17, while Rajni took 4/15 in her 9 overs.
Bihar were rocked early, losing Vishalakshmi on 15. The opener was dismissed by Kashvee on 2. Aradhya Raj fell to leg-spinner Rajni on 7, while captain Apurva Kumari made a 45-ball 20 before she became the second victim of Kashvee.
Yashita Singh and Sikha Singh did not last long either as Bihar were reduced to 51/5 in 17.1 overs. While Yashita was dismissed by Rajni on 4, Sikha fell to Kashvee without even opening her account.
The remaining five wickets could only manage 45 runs as Bihar even failed to cross the 100-run mark. Komal Kumari made a painstaking 71-ball 11. The major share of the runs for Bihar, though, came from the extras — 37 in all.
Chandigarh, in reply, also started on an unimpressive note. While Mehul was sent back by Apurva on 1, her opening partner Monika Pandey was run out after facing 58 balls for her 7.
Parushi Prabhakar made 18 runs off 65 balls before she was caught by Aradhya Raj off Preeti Kumari.
Skipper Amanjot Kaur and Kashvee then stitched an unbeaten 29-run partnership for the fourth wicket to see Chandigarh home in 31.1 overs. Amanjot remained not out 22, while Kashvee hit an unbeaten 12. Thirty-nine runs came from extras.
Chandigarh women will now face Meghalaya in their second fixture on January 28.
Brief scores
Bihar 96 all out in 43.1 overs (Apurva Kumari 20, Komal Kumari 11; Kashvee Gautam 5/17, Rajni 4/15) lost to Chandigarh 99/3 in 31.1 overs (Amanjot Kaur 22*, Parushi Prabhakar 18; Preeti Kumari 1/15, Apurva 1/20)
