Poonam Yadav’s three-fer helps India blue clinch Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy
Indian cricketer Poonam Yadav's three-wicket haul has helped India Blue defeat the India Red team by a very close margin to clinch the Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur. India Blue have managed to bag the title in spite of skipper Mithali Raj’s absence.
Chasing 132 for victory, India Red ended up five runs short of the target with Punam Raut’s half-century going in vain. Poonam Raut along with Radha Yadav led the bowling attack as the duo managed to pick 5 wickets in total. India Blue
While India Red lost wickets in quick successions after the 54-run opening stand, Hemalatha and Tania Bhatia were involved in a 38-run partnership for the third wicket, with the latter scoring a quick-fire 28 off 17 to boost the scoring rate. Radha Yadav then came up with a 10 ball 15 in a 30-run association with Hemalatha but both lost their wickets in the penultimate over. Hemalatha fell short of her half-century by just 2 runs as India Blue managed to cross 130 after 20 overs.
However, India Red appeared to be in control as the 87-run stand between the openers Raut and Deepti Sharma helped the team get closer to the total. Despite not managing to pick up a single wicket for more than 14 overs, India Blue came back brilliantly with the help of their spin trio of Anuja, Poonam, and Radha.
From 106 for 1, India Red slipped to 115 for 5 in two overs with the top order back in the hut. Needing 17 off the last 10 deliveries, India Red could only manage 12, with Poonam picking two wickets off successive deliveries in the final over.
