Sandhya, Niteesha, Drithi and Kavya fashion Hyderabad’s 58-run victory over Tripura

Hyderabad began their BCCI Senior Women’s One-day Trophy campaign on a rousing note as they cruised to a 58-run win over Tripura at the Taurian World School ground in Ranchi on Friday.

opener Sandhya Gora and No.3 bat Kunchala Niteesha struck fine half-centuries to fashion Hyderabad’s victory.

Hyderabad skipper VH Kavya won the toss and had no hesitation to bat first, but they lost opener G Trisha (4) with five on the board. However, Sandhya and Niteesha combined well to steer Hyderabad back in the reckoning. The duo added 138 for the second wicket off 220 balls with Sandhya being the dominant partner.

She scored 71 off 114 balls, while Niteesha made 58 off 106. Tripura made the much-needed breakthrough when Niteesha fell to RR Mane. Her 58 contained six boundaries.

Two runs later, Sandhya too fell after making 72 off 116 balls with nine fours. After her departure, the Hyderabad batters failed to build on the partnership and fell apart.

Hyderabad managed to reach 201 for eight thanks to an unbeaten 25 off 17 balls with four boundaries by skipper Kavya.

Tripura never looked like challenging the Hyderabad total as they lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for 143. Opener JR Debnath made 32 off 39 balls with five fours, while skipper RR Saha topscored with a 86-ball 39 with three fours. No.5 bat Indra Rani Jamatia chipped in with 31 off 51 balls and struck four boundaries.

Kesari Drithi was the wrecker-in-chief with a five for 25 haul. Skipper Kavya bagged two for 17.

Brief scores: Hyderabad 201/8 in 50 overs (Sandhya Gora 72, K Niteesha 58, VM Kavya 25 no; AB Das 4/31) beat Tripura 143 in 39.1 overs (JR Debnath 32, RR Saha 39, Indra Rani 31, Kesari Drithi 5/25, VM Kavya 2/17).