Renuka and Yastika do the star turn in India-D’s trophy triumph

The two women’s impact in international cricket has been sudden. So it should come as no surprise that Renuka Singh and Yastika Bhatia could make their presence felt in the final of a major domestic tournament.

Renuka’s opening spell and a classy innings from Yastika, who stayed till the end, helped India-D win the Senior Women’s T20 Challenger Trophy tournament at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Stadium here on Saturday. Chasing India-A’s challenging 144 for five, under lights, India-D romped home with with seven wickets and an over to spare.

Yastika, who had made a brilliant 99 not out against India-C in the league phase just a few days ago, once again paced her innings wonderfully well. Her 80 not out (56b, 12×4, 1×6) made the chase look comfortable.

The other opener, Jasia Akhter (47, 38b, 3×4, 3×6), also played a crucial role in India-D’s well-deserved victory. The pair added 70 in 11 overs, making the job half done.

India-A may have entertained some hopes when India-D lost the wickets of Jemimah Rodrigues and D. Hemalatha within a space of couple of overs, but Yastika and Sushma Verma (13 not out) took their side home.

Early blows

Earlier, Renuka ensured that India-D could not begin its innings briskly enough. She had Shivali Shinde, who had been batting rather well in the tournament, lbw with just the fourth ball of the match.

Then, in her third over, she ended the promising innings from Disha Kasat. After playing some delectable shots, Disha played a tame shot and was caught at extra-cover.

Opener Nuzhat Parween (50, 43b, 6×4) was now joined by Harleen Deol (61, 48b, 8×4, 1×6) and they put on 95 for the third wicket. That wouldn’t be enough for Yastika.

The scores: India-A 144/5 in 20 overs (Nushat Parween 50, Harleen Deol 61, Renuka Singh 3/24) lost to India-D 148/3 in 19 overs (Yastika Bhatia 80 n.o., Jasia Akhter 47).