India Blue wins the Under-23 Challenger Trophy 2018-19

Economical spells from the bowlers and Shafali Verma's 40 off 32 led India Blue to a comfortable win over India Green in the final of U-23 Challenger Trophy.

In a chase of 118, India Blue didn't get a stable start as the captain Devika Vaidya fell for 6. However, the other opener shafali Verma and Nuzhat Parween steadied the ship. Both added 44 runs before Verma's dismissal for 40. Minnu Mani, on the other hand, failed to impress and fell for 7. Nuzhat Parween also followed her after scoring 20.

Later, a steady 20 from Tanusree Sarkar and 17 from Vrushali Bhagat guided India Blue to a convincing win. Radha Yadav bagged 2 wickets while Manali Dakshini, Rashi Kanojiya and Sushree Dibyadarshini took 1 wicket each for India Green.

Earlier in the innings, India Green won the toss and chose to bat first. They got a slow but steady start with Priya Punia and Y H Bhatia; who added 34 runs. Punia fell for 10 while Bhatia too fell for 20 within 1 over. However, A Garg and Drishya I V added another 32 runs before Drishya's dismissal for 17. Garg also failed to score big and dismissed for 19.

India Green failed to make a partnership because of the economical spells from their opponent. Devika Vaidya, Tanuja Kanwar, C Prathyusha and Tanusree Sarkar picked up 2 wickets each while Simran Dil Bahadur took 1 for India Blue. Radha Yadav top-scored with 23; where they were all out for 117 within 44 overs.