Divya Gnanananda stars in Herons win; Sheen lose plot to surrender against KiNi RR

An allround show by Deepti Sharma wasn’t enough as Sheen fell 13 runs short of the target against KiNi RR in the Falcon Sports Club Golden Jubilee T20 Tournament at the Samprasiddhi Sports Estadio in Bangalore on Friday (January 8). On the other hand, Ameya lost to Herons by eight wickets.



Batting first KiNi didn’t had the best of the starts losing experienced opener Vanitha VR (six) with just six runs on board in the first over. Punam Raut joined young Roshni Kiran in the middle as the duo steadied the ship with their calm and composed play resisting the opposition bowlers.



The duo hit some delightful shots with Kiran being the more aggressive among the two. The right-hander hit Niranjana Nagarajan for three boundaries in an over and even took out fours off the bowling of Simren Henry and Sharma.



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On the other hand Raut played a brilliant second fiddle occasionally opening her arms for a couple of fantastic sixes during the course of her innings. However, the partnership was finally broken by Rakshitha Krishnappa, who had the hard-hitting Kiran (35) stumped ending the 63-run second-wicket partnership.



Wicketkeeper Nuzhat Parween joined Raut (40) in the middle as the duo added 27 runs for the third wicket before the latter was caught by Henry off Krishnappa. The dismissal triggered the downfall as KiNi lost wickets at regular intervals, thanks to Sharma’s disciplined bowling picking up four wickets towards the end including the scalp of dangerous-looking Parween who make 20-ball 28.



Sharma finished with 4/18 while Krishnappa had to be satisfied with 3/27 as KiNi reached 128 for 9 in 20 overs. In reply, Jemimah Rodrigues and Vrinda Dinesh gave Sheen a breezy start before the former was trapped in front by Chandu V Om.



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Skipper Krishnappa, who had a brilliant day with the ball, couldn’t do much falling for unlucky 13 off the bowling of Radha Yadav. Sharma (24) joined Dinesh in the middle and it looked like an easy win for the Sheen but the dismissal of both within a space of three balls did the damage as they lost the plot thereafter.



Sharma was the first to go clean bowled by Soumya Gowda while Dinesh gave an easy catch to Chandu off the bowling of Prathyusha C after run-a-ball 38. They finally finished at 115 for 6 in 20 overs. In the other encounter of the day, a fine unbeaten 83 off 67 balls from Herons skipper Divya Gnanananda saw them home in 19.3 overs.



Chasing 130 for the win, Herons lost Shubha S for a duck in the first over itself. But with Minnu Mani (31) by her side, Gnanananda stitched a century-run partnership before the former was out in the 16th over. Earlier, Ameya rode on a blistering 62 from 44 balls from skipper Veda Krishnamurthy propel the team to 129 for 5 in 20 overs.



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Batting first, Ameya didn't have the best of the starts losing openers MD Thirushkamini (12) and Nikki Prasad (five) in the same over to Aditirajesh Shimoga. Mona Meshram (31) joined Krishnamurthy in the middle and the duo added 81 runs for the third wicket.



Brief scores:



Ameya 129/5 in 20 overs (Veda Krishnamurthy 62; Aditirajesh Shimoga 2/23) lost to Herons 132/2 in 19.3 overs (Divya Gnanananda 83*) by eight wickets.



KiNi RR 128/9 in 20 overs (Pinam Raut 40; Deepti Sharma 4/18, Rakshitha Krishnappa 3/27 ) beat Sheen 115/6 in 20 overs (Vrinda Dinesh 38; Prathyusha C 2/17) by 13 runs.