Saee Purandare smashes ton; Pondicherry, Chandigarh continue dominant run

Pondicherry continued their dominant run in the Plate Group of the Senior one-day trophy, overpowering Nagaland by nine wickets at the Siechem Stadium in Puducherry on Monday (February 24). After their bowlers combined to bundle the opposition out for 103, the opening duo of Latika Kumari (36) and Bhakti Tamore (47*) laid the foundation to an easy victory, taking their team to the top of the points table.

Over at the SLIMS cricket ground, Chandigarh too notched up their third win, annihilating a hapless Arunachal Pradesh by 10 wickets. Having allowed their opponents to get away to a decent start – 26-run opening partnership – Chandigarh’s bowlers, led by Rajni Devi, proceeded to rip through the Arunachal line-up, dismissing them for 45. While Devi picked up four wickets, right-arm seamer Priyanka Guleria took three of her own, as seven of Arunachal’s batters failed to open their accounts. In reply, Chandigarh faced no trouble, romping home in a little over 10 overs.

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In the final match of the day, Saee Purandare – who topped the run-charts in 2018-19 – returned to her run-scoring ways, notching up her first century of the season against Manipur, to headline Meghalaya’s 54-run win. It was Purandare’s 101 at the top of the order that took Meghalaya to a total of 202 for 7, before their bowlers kept Manipur to 148 for 6.

Brief Scores:

Nagaland 103 in 47.4 overs (Madhumonti Battacharya 25; Radhika 3-13, Janaki 2-16) lost to Pondicherry 104/1 in 26.5 overs (Bhakti Tamore 47*, Latika Kumari 36) by nine wickets.

Arunachal Pradesh 45 in 26.3 overs (Rajni Devi 4-10, Priyanka Guleria 3-2) lost to Chandigarh 47/0 in 10.4 overs (Amanjot Kaur 25*) by 10 wickets.

Meghalaya 202/7 in 50 overs (Saee Purandare 101; Milan Y 3-33) beat Manipur 148/6 in 50 overs (Ganga W 41, Monica 38*; Riticia N 3-20, Daiaka 2-10) by 54 runs.