Shillong, Mar 17: Umiam Queens and Simsang Rangers won the opening matches by nine and four wickets respectively on the firstp day of the Meghalaya Cricket Association’s Senior Women T20 Challenger Cup here today.
The best among the state’s senior, U-23 and U-19 players are taking part in the tournament and they have been divided into four evenly-matched teams named after natural landmarks of Meghalaya – Simsang Rangers, Myntdu Raiders, Symper Challengers and Umiam Queens.
The MCA will use the performances from this event as a basis to select the Meghalaya squad that will compete in next month’s BCCI Senior Women’s T20 Tournament.
In the early match, Myntdu Raiders were made to bat first after the Rangers won the toss. Janica Marak and Sandria Momin both made 18 as the Raiders found it a little difficult to score freely and they finished their 20 overs on 93/7. Pinky Chanda claimed 2/10 with the ball.
Simsang also found batting a challenge but they came through on 94/6 with five deliveries to spare. Luiza Tamang made 25 off 19 balls and, with her one wicket from the first innings, she was adjudged player-of-the-match. Deiphibanpynshngain L Mawnai bowled incredibly well for Myntdu, conceding just five runs in her four overs. She also took two scalps and did not concede a single wide or no ball. The other successful bowler was Rebeldalis Syiemlieh (2/22).
Later in the day, Symper Challengers elected to bat first after winning the toss and posted 113/6. Sanchisa Sangma looked to be in fine form as she scored a brisk 30 from 26 balls at the top of the order but, a moment after being beaten by the ball, she was neatly stumped by an alert Sildamicresha Marbaniang off the bowling of Rubi Chetry, who went on to claim the best figures of 3/17. Ritreki Pohshna also shone with her fielding and her two catches ensured that the Challengers’ total was kept down to below six runs an over.
Umiam had little in the way of difficulty during the chase, with Marbaniang carrying her bat for 29 not out, while Chetry was unbeaten on 37. Debasmita Dutta (1/17) was the lone wicket-taker as the Queens romped to victory with 4.5 overs to spare and nine wickets in hand.
Tomorrow, the Raiders will face the Queens at 9:30am, followed by the Rangers against the Challengers at 12:40pm.