Railways defeated Maharashtra in the final of the Senior T20 Trophy to lift the title for the 10th time.
Railways, who were unbeaten in the tournament, proved too good for the Smriti Mandhana-led Maharashtra team.
On a flat pitch on Surat, Mandhana opted to bat first and made sure to lead the team from the front as she raced to 84 from just 56 deliveries. She had a 74-run stand with Shivali Shinde for the 1st wicket. Shinde added 30 runs.
It was Sneh Rana once again who gave the team a breakthrough. After she opened up the batting order, other bowlers followed.
Initially, Shinde began with multiple dot deliveries but when Swagatika Rath was brought into the attack, Shinde made sure to deal in boundaries. She had four boundaries off her and Rath’s first two overs were below par.
However, once Rana opened up the batting order of Maharashtra, the wickets began to tumble. Rath also came back well in her second spell to end with 3/33.
The final over of Rana went for 17 runs as Maharashtra ended with 160.
In return, Railways had an outstanding start with Meghana taking on Shraddha Pokharkar. She raced to 52 from just 32 deliveries. While she was batting well, Maharashtra picked up two quick wickets which brought Hemalatha into the attack.
Hemalatha had scored two fifties before this game and both of them came while the team was struggling.
Though the team wasn’t really struggling this time, it was the final and the nerves were certainly there. However, Hemalatha made sure to stay calm and take on bowlers. She did take a few deliveries to settle in but once she got the groove she went on to strike over 140.
With nine boundaries and two sixes, Hemalatha made sure to reduce the gap. In the end, Anjali Sarvani smashed a straight six to take the team home.
