Team E sets a final date with Team A in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy

Riding on Nandini Kashyap’s power-packed 74, Team E chased 149 at a canter against Team B in the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy on Monday in Ranchi. With this win, Team E marched to the final and will take on Team A on Wednesday.

After restricting Team B to 148/5 in 20 overs, Team E’s opening batter Kashyap led the run chase from the front. The Uttarakhand wicket-keeper-batter pummelled 13 fours and a six in her 42-ball blitzkrieg. She continued her red-hot form in the tournament by registering her third half-century in four matches. This prolific batter is now the leading run-getter in the competition with 276 runs at a blistering strike rate of 137 and dominant average of 92.

Kashyap combined forces with her opening partner and fellow Uttarakhand teammate Raghvi Bisht (33) to put together 111 runs in 12 overs. Team B bowlers looked listless as they failed to stem the free flow of runs. Nikita Singh (2/26) struck twice and captain Sneh Rana (1/29) once but that was not enough to stop Team E who has been on a roll in this tournament. Team E took 17.1 overs to overhaul the target and won by seven wickets.

Early in the day, Kashyap’s opposite number from Team B, Uma Chetry (50) smashed a gritty half-century. Opening the batting, she provided a good start but could not find able allies to stitch partnerships. Team E bowlers kept coming at them, with Sayali Satghare (1/31), Mamta Paswan (1/31), and captain Radha Yadav (1/36) accounting for one scalp each. However, towards the end, Team B could pile on some useful runs as Rana (35 not out) and Singh (24 not out) played entertaining cameos to take their side closer to the 150-run mark.

It was the last league match of the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy. While it was curtains for Team B having won two of the four matches, Team E sailed through to the final with three wins in four matches.

Brief Scores: Team B 148/5 in 20 overs (U Chetry 50; S Satghare 1/31, M Paswan 1/31) lost to Team E (N Kashyap 74; N Singh 2/26) by 7 wickets