It proved to be so near yet so far for Andhra who crashed out of the BCCI’s Women’s Under-15 One-day Tournament in Puducherry on Friday.
Andhra ran themselves out to lose by a whisker as Mumbai bowlers and fielders held their nerve to squeeze through by the thinnest of margins, a one-run win, and enter the semifinals.
Needing 168 for victory, Andhra girls began well with openers Pushpitha Gowda K and Deeksha Katragadda adding 46 in 7.1 overs. They kept a good pace, but it was too good to last as skipper Deeksha was the first to depart as she was snared by Mudra off Kasturi Shah. Deeksha made a 30-ball 29 with four boundaries and a six.
Greeshma Saini joined Pushpitha and they pushed the score to 88 before Greeshma (20) was run out – the first of the three run outs in the innings, the last two at very crucial juncture and deprived Andhra of victory.
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B Madhura Sanjana Priya (10) and Pushpitha, who top scored with 41 off 49 balls and struck three fours, too departed to leave Andhra delicately placed at 109 for four.
Dhana Sri Raj and Akshaye Vadde stitched a timely partnership which was blooming and proving dangerous for Mumbai. They had added 39 for the fifth wicket but Mumbai struck through Advaita Toraskar to get rid of Akshaye (27).
From 148 for four, Andhra tumbled to lose six wickets for the addition of 18 runs. Andhra batters failed to play smart and lost their nerve with the pressure mounting on them. B Tejashwini was run out by Unnati S Patil at 156 for eight and last batter Sana was run out with Andhra needing just two to win.
Dhana remained a mute spectator at the other end as her best efforts proved in vain. She remained unbeaten on 27 off 38 balls with a lone boundary.
Earlier, put into bat, Mumbai had a horrible start as they lost Sonakshi Solanki (0) to the second ball of the innings with nothing on the board. She was caught and bowled by Tejashwini B.
Shrutika Sachin Patil (10) and Anisha Rout (19) then added 32 to the total before Anisha fell. Shrutika departed four runs later.
But Mudra and Ria Thakur steadied the innings with a 46-run partnership for the fourth wicket before Mudra (20) departed after being run out by Karthika.
Ria and Kasturi Shah then took the score to 118 before Ria fell to Chakrika Dandu for a top score of 38 (56 balls, 5×4). Kasturi made 25 and Sarrathi scored 18 as Mumbai reached 167 for eight.
Brief scores: Mumbai 167/8 in 35 overs (Anisha Rout 19, Mudra 20, Ria Thakur 38, Kasturi Shah 25, Sarrathi 18; P Rishika Krishnan 2/20) beat Andhra 166 in 34.5 overs (Pushpitha Gowda K 41, Deeksha Katragadda 29, Greeshma Saini 20, Dhana Sri Raj 27 no, Akshaye Vadde 27; Advaita Toraskar 2/34, Kasturi Shah 2/44, Kavya Bhagwat 2/23).
