Allround Mumbai clinch their first Under-23 T20 title

Mumbai were crowned champions of the Under-23 T20 Trophy beating Jharkhand in the final by seven wickets in Puducherry on Thursday (December 5). Mumbai's bowlers set up the win, restricting Jharkhand to a meagre total of 63 for 9 before polishing off the total with more than six overs to spare.

Fresh off a five-wicket haul in the semi-final, Janhvi Kate led the charge picking up two early wickets for Mumbai. She was well supported by skipper Manali Dakshini and Manjiri Gawade who also took two wickets apiece. That Mumbai's bowlers squeezed the life out of the Jharkhand line-up was visible in the number of dot-balls the batters played - a whopping 80 out of 120 balls. That Jharkhand even managed to cross the 50-run mark was largely thanks to a 21-run eighth wicket stand between Devyani Prasad and Arti.

Mumbai comfortably overhauled the 64-run target on the back of Vrushali Bhagat's unbeaten 40-ball 29. Despite the early loss of Jemimah Rodrigues for 14, Bhagat held her own at one end and made sure to see Mumbai over the line.

Kate finished the tournament at the top of the bowling charts with 19 wickets to her name.

Earlier in the tournament, 10 teams fought it out in the Super Leagues for a chance to qualify for the knockouts. In a tournament where rain had a major say - as many as nine matches being abandoned without a ball bowled - Mumbai, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Andhra made it to the semi-finals on the back of some exceptional performances.

Defending champions Railways were unable to defend their crown, suffering the wrath of the weather after they lost their opening game to Punjab.

Having lost to Jharkhand in the group games, once in the semi-final, Mumbai raised the bar significantly. Riding on a half-century from Rodrigues and a spell of 5 for 11 from Kate, the team from the west crushed Andhra in a one-sided semi-final, while Jharkhand clobbered Gujarat by 10 wickets on their way to the final.

Brief Scores:

Final: Jharkhand 63/9 in 20 overs (Janhvi 2/8, Manjiri Gawade 2/8, Manali Dakshini 2/12) lost to Mumbai 64/3 in 13.2 overs (Vrushali Bhagat 29*; Durga Murmu 2/8) by seven wickets.

SF 1: Gujarat 48/6 in 11 overs (Shanti Kumari 2/8) lost to Jharkhand 49/0 in 8.4 overs (Rashmi 33*) by ten wickets.

SF2: Mumbai 149/5 in 20 overs (Jemimah Rodrigues 67; G Sindhuja 2/22) beat Andhra Pradesh 80 all out in 17.5 overs (K Anjali Sarvani 40; Janhvi 5/11) by 69 runs.