Smriti Mandhana-led India Blue emerged as the winner of One-Day Challengers Trophy 2018 with a thumping win of 33 runs. The final was a roller-coaster ride as India Green suffered a major batting collapse chasing a modest total of 208. Despite a 114-run stand from openers Punam Raut (88 runs from 120 balls), and Jemimah Rodrigues (43 runs from 61 balls), they could not finish on the top, thanks to Challuru Prathyusha’s 4 for 23 in 6.2 overs.
Earlier, India Blue too had a good start after Mandhana won the toss and elected to bat first. The India Blue skipper along with Vanitha VR tried to get them off to a flier. Vanitha got out early but Mandhana went on to score a half-century. She scored 58 runs from 74 balls including 7 fours at a strike rate of 78.38.
Dayalan Hemlatha too got off to a decent start but lost her wicket to Ekta Bisht. She scored 24 runs from 35 deliveries. Mona Meshram came to bat and shared a 63-run stand with Mandhana for the third wicket. She scored 63 runs from 90 balls including 6 fours.
India Green skipper Anuja Patil along with Sorhana Asha managed to put the pressure on the middle-order batsmen. They picked up three wickets each to stop India Blue from posting a daunting total in the final. However, Jhulan Goswami entertained with her cameo scoring 16 runs from 17 balls.
Here are the highlights of the final –
WATCH highlights of India Blue’s thrilling 33-run win over India Green in @paytm #ChallengerTrophy #Final here – https://t.co/mlwe9aOyV5
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 8, 2018
India Blue players celebrate after winning the final –
A major turnaround in the #Final as India Blue bundle out India Green for 174 to win the @paytm #ChallengerTrophy by 33 runs pic.twitter.com/Ea4hRJQn66
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 8, 2018
The second innings saw a major turnaround as India Green needed just 58 runs to win from 91 balls when Raut lost her wicket. After skipper Patil and wicketkeeper Nuzrat Parween’s wicket, no batter could register scores in double digits. It was a batting collapse of epic proportions as India Green lost 7 wickets in a matter of 7 runs.
WATCH highlights of @mandhana_smriti‘s unbeaten ton as she takes India Blue to a eight-wicket win @paytm #ChallengerTrophy – https://t.co/SQabU2gNaH … …
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 4, 2018
Feels great for our India Blue team to win the Challenger Trophy. It has been an honour to be captaining the side @BCCIWomen #ChallengerTrophy #BCCI #Women pic.twitter.com/8EoNHE0XwK
— Smriti Mandhana (@mandhana_smriti) January 8, 2018
Mandhana has had a terrific domestic season, both as a captain and a batter. She scored a total of 195 runs in three matches including 1 century and a half-century. Mona too was a positive from the series as she performed consistently scoring 163 runs including two half-centuries. Vanitha knocked on the selectors’ doors with her timely quickfire innings of 42 including 3 towering sixes which became the talk of the town.
It’s always a great feeling holding this trophy #challengerseries#2017-2018 Teamindiablue
A post shared by Vanitha VR (@vanithavr) on
The Challengers Trophy also saw Punam Raut emerging as a fantastic opener, consistent with her performances. She is the highest run-scorer of the tournament with 273 runs including a century and two half-centuries.
Another positive from India Green’s batting order was Jemimah Rodrigues, the 17-year-old who had scored a double century recently in the Under-19 One Day competition 2017-18. She made a strong statement living upto the hype and went on to score a total of 179 runs in the tournament including one half-century.
WATCH highlights of India Green opener Jemimah Rodrigue’s sparkling 93-ball 84 vs India Red in @paytm #ChallengerTrophy – https://t.co/mSulq4L6uu
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) January 5, 2018
On the other hand, Mithali Raj-led India Red lost both their games and failed to make it into the final of the tournament. However, her batting performances were as consistent as they were in the World Cup 2017 where India reached the final. Mithali scored 121 runs from 2 innings including one half-century. India Red openers Priya Punia and Deepti Sharma looked in good form too as they scored one half-century each.
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The Challengers Trophy 2018 also showed that Mandhana is a good leader and can be a future prospect in the captaincy department. She made a name for herself for scoring big in initial matches of the World Cup 2017 and became an instant hit. The 21-year-old has a long way to go looking at the kind of talent she possesses.
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