Middle-order to Air-India's rescue

By Our Sports Reporter

FARIDABAD, OCT. 18. Air-India's strong batting line-up withstood early setbacks with the help of Rumeli Dhar and Purnima Rau to crawl to 198 against Andhra Pradesh in the semifinal of the National Women's cricket championship at the Nahar Singh Stadium here on Thursday.

Holder Railways, too, faced some anxious moments early on against Karnataka but remained on course for a place in the final. Thanks to a fine knock of 81 by Arundhati K, the eight- time champion made 254 in the other semifinal at the TERI Oval, Gurgaon.

Electing to bat, Air-India lost its openers, skipper Anju Jain (12) and her deputy Anjum Chopra (6), with just 27 runs on board. But it was the third-wicket stand of 63 between Rumeli (66) and former India captain Purnima Rau (35) that rescued Air- India.

In these 90-overs-a-side semifinals, there is no restriction on the number of overs a bowler can bowl. AP captain Sri Rekha made the most of this rule and persisted with off- spinner Monica Preety (three for 47), who bowled 31 overs and leg-spinner Savitha Kumari (two for 28) for 16 overs.

Having appeared convincing in the previous two rounds, a below par performance by Air-India came as a bit of a surprise. On the brighter side, Rumeli (66, three 4s), Purnima (35, three 4s), Deepali Patkar (26, two 4s) and to some extent, Julan Goswami (20, two 4s) showed their grit as they held on by turns to lend their team's total some respectability. AP, the last edition's runner-up, was up to the task as its bowlers stuck to a good line.

At the TERI Oval, Railways' positive outlook stood out as it battled out of trouble. Despite losing Rajni Venugopal (11), Purnima C. (16), Mithali Raj (22) and Hemlata Kala (14) cheaply, the holder did not panic. Arundhati came up with a gem of an innings hitting seven boundaries. She added 81 runs for the fifth wicket with Deepa Kulkarni.

Arundhati was ninth out, bowled by Karnataka skipper Nooshin (three for 74 in 32 overs). Rashmi S. took three for 69 runs, as Railways innings folded in the final over.

The scores:

Air-India: Anju Jain c Savitha Nirala b Shravanthi 12, Anjum Chopra (run out) 6, Rumeli Dhar c and b Monica Preety 66, Purnima Rao c Savitha Kumari b Monica 35, Mangala Khadekar c Aruna b Monica 1, Deepali Patkar b Suvarna Laxmi 26, Sunaina Mehan st. Sudha Rani b Savitha Nirala 14, Shilpa Gundecha (run out) 2, Mamta Kishen b Savitha Kumari 9, Julan Goswami b Savitha Kumari 20, Usha Bhogade (not out) 0, Extras (b-3, lb-4) 7, Total (in 88.3 overs) 198.

Fall of wickets: 1-18, 2-27, 3-90, 4-108, 5-132, 6- 163, 7-169, 8-169, 9-187.

Andhra Pradesh bowling: Suvarna Laxmi 13-2-36-1, Shravanthi 11-2- 27-1, Monica Preety 31-9-47-3, Savitha Kumari 13.3-2-28-2, Savitha Nirala 16-3-41-1, Aruna 1-0-4-0, Sri Rekha 3-0-8-0.

Railways: Rajni Venugopal b Mamta Maben 11, Purnima C. c and b Mamta 16, Mithali Raj (run out) 22, Hemlata Kala c Mamta b Nooshin 14, Arundhati K. b Nooshin 81, Deepa Kulkarni c Karuna Jain b Rashmi 25, Kavita Roy c Ruth Maben b Nooshin 16, Sulakshana Naik (run out) 13, Rupanjali Shastri c Nazeera b Rashmi 17, Sunitha K. (not out) 10, Neetu David c Ruth b Rashmi 8, Extras (b-7, lb-4, nb-3, w-7) 21, Total (in 89.4 overs) 254.

Fall of wickets: 1-25, 2-32, 3-53, 4-68, 5-149, 6-181, 7-208, 8- 231, 9-237.

Karnataka bowling: Mamta Maben 14-4-36-2, Ruth Maben 5-1-10-0, Bollamma J. 6-1-12-0, Nooshin 32-7-74-3, Deepika Babu 12-1-42-0, Rashmi S. 20.4-4-69-3.

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