Shillong, Mar 1: Meghalaya won their fifth match in a row in the Women’s Senior One-Day Trophy after a gritty last wicket partnership of 23 runs saw them defeat Mizoram by one wicket in Puducherry today.
Meghalaya won the toss and chose to field and then restricted Mizoram to 129/9 in 50 overs before chasing this down to make 131/9 in 47.4 overs. Injured captain Debasmita Dutta (pictured, 16 not out) had to largely bat with one hand in partnership with Avril Syiem (7 not out) to get Meghalaya over the line.
The chase was largely led by opener Saee Purandare but she was then dismissed for 41 with the scoreboard reading 71/3, still 59 runs short of the target.
Daiaka Warjri contributed 10 to the cause but her dismissal and that of three other batsmen left Meghalaya on 108/9 with numbers 10 and 11 Dutta and Syiem needing to score the remaining 22 runs for victory.
They were up to the task, however, with Dutta finishing not out on 16 and Syiem not out on 7 to give Meghalaya victory with 2.2 overs to spare.
Earlier, Mizoram started fairly well with their top five batsmen all getting into double figures but Meghalaya kept chipping away with wickets at regular intervals to deny the opposition any real momentum.
Dutta delivered a fine spell to finish with 3/16, while Ajima Sangma bagged 2/19. Both bowled their full complement of 10 overs each. One wicket each was also claimed by Solina Jaba (1/13), Riticia Nongbet (1/19) and Pinky Chanda (1/28).
(Meghalaya Cricket Association photo)
