The Hindu : Western Railway clinches title

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 13, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

Western Railway clinches title

HYDERABAD APRIL 12. Western Railway made it three in a row when it bagged the trophy in the 16th All India Railway cricket championship for women that concluded at the Railway ground here today. Western topped the round-robin league despite losing its last match to the host South Central Railway today. This was the ninth time that Western Railway has won the title. Eastern Railway was second while Northern Railway came third, South Central Railway was fourth and Southern Railway was fifth.

In the last round of the league matches, South Central Railway pulled off an upset win by six wickets over the defending champion. Western Railway batting first was restricted to a modest score of 168 for seven in 50 overs. Reema Malhotra who scored an unbeaten 46 and Arundhati Kirkire (33) were the main scorers. Arundhati and Sunetra Paranjape (17) put on 51 for the second wicket. Arpita Patel also batted well to score 26 with the hepl of three boundaries.

The main wicket taker for South Central Railway was Monica Preeti with three for 20 while Mithali Raj also bowled well to pick up two wickets for 25 runs from eight overs of which three were maidens.

When it began the chase South Central Railway managed to get the upper hand thanks to a third wicket partnership of 108 runs between Vanitha Viola and Mithali Raj. Opener Vanitha batted with aplomb to score 59 with six boundaries whe Mithali Raj remained unbeaten on 80 at the end.

Mithali's fluent strokeplay was a treat to watch and she found the gaps in the field with great accuracy. She hit eight boundaries in her knock and she saw her team home to a comfortable victory in only 42.3 overs.

In the other match Northern Railway defeated Southern Railway by six wickets. Hamsavalli (24 with two boundaries) and Jayalaxmi (25 with two boundaries) helped Southern Railway to chalk up 142 for eight in 50 overs. In reply Northern Railway scored 143 for four in 41.4 overs. Jaya Sharma with 38 was the top scorer while Preeti (27) also batted well.

The scores: Western Railway 168 for seven (Arundhati Kirkire 33, Reema Malhotra 46 not out, Arpita Patel 26, Monica Preeti three for 20) lost to South Central Railway 169 for four (Vanitha Viola 59, Mithali Raj 80 not out).

Southern Railway 142 for eight (Hamsavalli 24, Jayalaxmi 25) lost to Northern Railway 143 for four (Jaya Sharma 38, Preeti 27, Kamakshi three for 38).

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