Allround Jhansi leads India A to their first win

An allround performance by CH Jhansi Lakshmi handed India A their first win of the Under-23 T20 Challenger Trophy as the side beat India C by nine wickets at Siechem Stadium in Puducherry on Friday.

In pursuit of their VJD-reduced target of 30 runs in five overs in a curtailed affair, Jhansi smashed an unbeaten 16-ball 20, including two boundaries, which saw India A home with five balls to spare. Her opening partner, Chitra Singh (8) was dismissed by Renuka Chaudhari, the left-arm spinner, with four runs to get, but that did little to hurt the team's chances.

Earlier, Jhansi and Krutika Chaudhari finished with a combined analysis of 6-0-13-4 to restrict India C to 84 for 8. India A picked up wickets at regular intervals and did not let any of India C's batters settle down.

Krutika struck on the second ball of the first over and dismissed opener Kajal Jena for a golden duck. Renuka (22) and Sheetal Rana tried to rebuild the innings but a run out by Amanjot Kaur forced the former to join her teammates at the dugout, leaving India C at 34/4 in 9.1 overs.

Jhansi joined the party and got rid of Sheetal (17) and Kanika Ahuja (4) in quick succession. At 60 for 8 after 17 overs, the lower-order batters Utkarsha Pawar and Suman Meena added 24 runs to take India C to some respectability.

Brief scores: India C 84/8 in 20 overs (Renuka Chaudhari 22; CH Jhansi Lakshmi 2-4, Krutika Chaudhari 2-9) lost to India A 30/1 in 4.1 overs (CH Jhansi Lakshmi 20*) by nine wickets (VJD method).