Ranga Lakshmi and Henrietta hammer tons to power Andhra to six-wicket win over Gujarat

Opener P Ranga Lakshmi and Henrietta Pereira struck handsome centuries to power Andhra to a six-wicket victory over Gujarat in the BCCI Senior Women’s One-Day Trophy at the ACA Stadium in Barsapara, Guwahati, on Saturday.

Chasing Gujarat’s 251 for four, Andhra lost opener P Vinny Suzan (4) with just 12 on the board. However, Lakshmi and Setu Sai V steadied the innings with a 41-run partnership for the second wicket before Setu fell for 15 off 19 balls with three fours.

But the best part of the innings came when Henrietta walked into to bat. Henrietta and Lakshmi toyed with the Gujarat attack as they went about their task in a very methodical manner.

The kept their heads down and chipped away at the target one run at a time. By the time they were done, Andhra had reached 246 and well within Gujarat’s sight.

The duo added a whopping 193 for the third wicket off 213 balls as they held the upperhand right through the partnership. Henrietta was the dominant of the duo as she contributed 102 off 113 balls to the partnership, while Lakshmi’s share was 86 off 100 balls.

Lakshmi, who was named the Player of the Match, was caught by Jiya A Jain off skipper Renuka Chaudhari after making 117 which came off 131 balls and contained 16 fours and a six.

Andhra lost E Padmaja (0) off the first ball as she was run out by Krutikaben. But Henrietta finished the job to remain unbeaten on 104 off 115 balls with 12 fours as Andhra scored 251 for four in 46 overs. Harshitha was not out on 3.

Henrietta trained at Dixit Cricket Academy

Henrietta Pereira with coach Anirudh Dixit during her training days at the Dixit Cricket Academy in Kompally, Hyderabad

Hyderabad-born Henrietta had trained at the Dixit Cricket Academy in Kompally for nearly five years before moving to Andhra on the advice of coach Anirudh Dixit. The move has been a boon for the Sainikpuri girl as she has been doing well this season.

Earlier, electing to bat, Gujarat were off to a good start as openers Simran and Charlie Solanki (17) added 34 before Charlie was run out by Setu Sai V.

Arshia Dhariwal (12) was run out by B Anusha but Simran and Renuka added 49 for the third wicket before Simran fell for 31. She was pacer Shabnam’s first wicket and was caught by K Anjali Sarvani.

Renuka and Stuti Jani then produced the best partnership of the innings as they added 76 off 86 balls to steady the Gujarat innings. Stuti was caught and bowled by K Dhathri to end the partnership. Stuti made 34 off 48 balls with five fours.

After Nidhiben N Desai’s (9) departure, Renuka added 50 for the sixth wicket with Jiya A Jain, who made an unbeaten 31 off 24 balls with three fours and a six.

Renuka had fallen for a topscore of 89 when she was snapped up by Setu Sai off Shabnam. Her 89 came off 93 balls with 15 hits to the fence. Gujarat were seven for 250 when the innings ended.

Brief scores: Gujarat 250 for seven in 50 overs (Simran 31, Renuka Chaudhari 89, Stuti Jani 34, Jiya A Jain 31 not out; Shabnam 2/49, K Dhathri 2/51) lost to Andhra 251 for four in 46 overs (P Ranga Lakshmi 117, Henrietta Pereira 104 not out; Krutikaben 2/52).