Nuzhat Parween, Asha Joy and Nidhi Buley light up Senior T20 super league

Nuzhat Parween and Asha Joy of Indian Railways, and Nidhi Buley of Jharkhand were the stars of day two of the Senior T20 super league on Friday (November 1). Railways, Vidarbha, Maharashtra and Bengal registered victories over Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand and Andhra respectively.

Railways continued their winning streak thrashing HP by 67 runs in Mulapadu. Fresh off an unbeaten half-century on Thursday (October 31), Parween smashed an unconquered 67-ball 93.

Railways lost an early wicket of Meghana Sabbineni for five runs but that didn't stop Parween as she smashed 14 boundaries to take her team to a total of 153. She shared an unbroken 79-run stand with skipper Sneh Rana, who remained not out on 32 off 19 balls.

Chasing 154 HP were never really in the game, losing five wickets with only 50 on the board. Only Shivani Mohinder (21) and Vandana Rana (18) reached double figures, as their team was cleaned up for 86. Asha, the leg-spinner, was the wrecker-in-chief finishing with outstanding figures of 3.4-1-5-4.

Elsewhere, in a low scoring game, Vidarbha snuck past Uttar Pradesh by just two runs. Batting first, Bharati Fulmali (45) and Krutika Pophali (24) took charge of the innings for Vidarbha managing to post a total of 106 for 7.

In reply, Uttar Pradesh were in the hunt right till the 20th over. Muskan Malik (33) and Nishu Choudhary (38) batted sensibly to take their team close to the target, but Vidarbha's bowlers held their nerve, making sure UP were unable to score the 10 runs required off the final over.

In another thriller, Maharashtra beat Jharkhand by two runs. Buley, the left-arm spinner from Jharkhand, picked up five wickets to help restrict Maharashtra to 81, but could only watch as her team's batters piled up dot balls. Eventually, Jharkhand were kept to 79 for 8 - Mukta Magre, Priyanka Garkhede and Maya Sonawane picking up two wickets each for Maharashtra.

Veteran Rumeli Dhar's allround performance headlined another Bengal win as they went past Andhra by 12 runs. Mandira Mahapatra (27) and Dhar's (21) contributions with the bat helped Bengal reach 106 for 8. In response, Padmaja Ellutla, who picked up three wickets earlier in the day, top scored for Andhra with a run-a-ball 32. However, Dhar's haul of 2 for 9 in four overs meant the hosts were unable to get over the line.

Brief scores:

Railways 153/2 in 20 overs (Nuzhat Parween 93*; Anisha Ansari 1-20) beat Himachal Pradesh 86 in 19.4 overs (Shivani Singh 21; Asha Joy 4-5) by 67 runs.

Vidharbha 106/7 in 20 overs (Bharthi Fulmali 45; Meghana Singh 2-8) beat Uttar Pradesh 104/5 in 20 overs (Nishu Choudhary 38; Disha Kasat 1-22) by two runs.

Maharashtra 81 in 19 overs (Anagha Deshpande 21, Mukta Magre 21; Nidhi Buley 5-8) beat Jharkhand (Indrani Roy 27; Priyanka Garkhede 2-6) by two runs.

Bengal 106/8 in 20 overs (Mandira Mahapatra 27, Richa Ghosh 21; Padmaja Ellutla 3-15) beat Andhra 94/8 20 overs (Padmaja E 32; Rumeli Dhar 2-9) by 12 runs.