Shillong, Mar 9: Meghalaya finished their campaign in the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy by claiming another scalp – that of Puducherry – by 35 runs in Puducherry today.
Saee Purandare led the way with bat and ball, scoring a century and taking three wickets after Puducherry won the toss and chose to field first.
Purandare struck 102 in an innings that include nine boundaries and she was given good support by Daiaka Warjri (19) in an 82-run partnership for the fourth wicket as Meghalaya were restricted to 167/8 in their 50 overs.
Puducherry had only lost one match prior to today and might have fancied their chances of chasing down the target, but they lost three early wickets thanks to Meghalaya bowlers Vandana Mahajan and Riticia Nongbet, which pegged the hosts back.
They then recovered somewhat thanks to a handy 64 by Karuna Jain, but once the middle order batsman was stumped by Avril Syiem off the bowling of Debasmita Dutta, the writing was clearly on the wall and Puducherry were dismissed for 132 in 48.5 overs.
Purandare finished with figures of 3/8 having bowled just 4.5 overs, while Mahajan (2/21) and Nongbet (2/26) both took a brace of wickets each. Dutta (1/16) and Pinky Chanda (1/37) were the other wicket-takers.
In their nine matches Meghalaya have won seven and lost just two and are in provisional third place in the 10-team plate group. The only games they lost were to Chandigarh and Nagaland, who are ahead in the table.
(Meghalaya Cricket Association photo)