Hyderabad edged out Karnataka in a thrilling match at the Inter-Zonal Women’s Under 23 (South Zone) cricket tournament being played at Kochi. Hyderabad got past the finish line with just one wicket and three balls remaining.
Put into bat, Karnataka scored 192 runs for the loss of eight wickets in 50 overs with the help of S. Subha and D. D. Dutta who contributed 74 and 50 runs respectively to the team total. Hyderabad women tried their best to contain their rivals but the Karnataka unit was rock solid.
Hyderabad’s Rachana S. Kumar was the standout bowler. She snared three wickets while conceding 21 runs. Had it not been for her, Karnataka would have piled more runs and put Hyderabad on the backfoot straightaway. K. Priyanka played second fiddle to Rachana and snapped up two wickets while Lakshmi Prasanna picked a wicket.
Despite being restricted for a modest total, Karnataka unit didn’t let the match slip. They fought back well and kept picking wickets at regular intervals to stay afloat. However, Hyderabad women unleashed some brilliant shots to keep the opposition on their toes. With the ball regularly crashing against the boundary ropes, shoulders dropped in the Karnataka camp for a brief period but they got back into the game by picking wickets.
Himani Yadav made a half-century while D. Ramya and Pranathi Reddy contributed 45 and 41 runs respectively in Hyderabad’s winning cause while Prathyusha scalped three wickets for 23 runs and allrounder D. D. Dutta and Chandu V. picked two wickets apiece for Karnataka.
Brief scores
Karnataka 192/8 in 50 overs (S. Shubha 74, C. Prathyusha 33, D. D. Dutta 50, Rachana S. Kumar 3/21, K. Priyanka 2/32, Lakshmi Prasanna 1/22) lost to Hyderabad 193/9 in 49.3 overs (D. Ramya 45, Himani Yadav 51, Pranathi Reddy 41, Chandu V. 2/33, D. D. Dutta 2/31, C. Prathyusha 3/23).
