The Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 kickstarted on the 28th of March, with East Zone locking horns with North East Zone at the Pune Cricket Club Ground at Pune and the formidable Central Zone taking on West Zone at the DY Patil Academy, Ambi in Pune.
For the uninitiated, the tournament returns after a long hiatus of 6 years. It is being hailed as a welcome step in the right direction as women’s cricket embraces Test cricket and Team India is a formidable team in whites.
The objective is to have a solid domestic structure and a pathway for domestic players to transition to understanding and playing red-ball cricket seamlessly.
Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24: Day 1 Wrap
Quarter Final 1- East Zone versus North East Zone
In Day 1 of the East Zone versus North East Zone encounter, a riveting day’s play was witnessed. East Zone won the toss and opted to bat first. The dynamic duo of Uma Chetry and skipper Deepti Sharma kickstarted the proceedings. They batted with caution and built their respective innings while setting the platform for a big total.
Their partnership yielded 96 runs and North East Zone got the first breakthrough as Sariba got the wicket of Cherty for a well-played 47. Deepti Sharma was the next to fall, one run short of what would have been a well-deserved half-century but it was DD Dutta who got the crucial wicket.
With Monikha Das falling cheaply as Sariba got her wicket, it was Dhara Gujjar who was in scintillating touch and she stitched crucial partnerships with RR Saha and later Durga Murmu as well en route to her knock of 140 off 216 balls. She struck 22 boundaries and was in full control.
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While Dhara Gujjar batted on, she struck a meaningful 109-run partnership with RR Saha who also chipped in with a knock of 35 and with Durga Murmu, it was another imperative 99-run partnership and thanks to these efforts, East Zone was looking at a big total on the board.
With Titas Sadhu scoring an unbeaten 23 and Saiqa Ishque’s 11- East Zone ended the day with a massive 385/8 in 100 overs drawing curtains on a successful day, at the close of stumps on Day 1. North East Zone had DD Dutta stand out with five wickets in what was a miserly and highly impactful spell and she was ably supported by Sariba who scalped one wicket and Nirtuta who pocketed one wicket.
Quarter Final 2- West Zone vs Central Zone
In the highly anticipated match between West Zone and Central Zone– a well-contested day’s play was witnessed. Central Zone won the toss and opted to bat first.
Off to a tricky start losing Nuzhat Parween for 9 with Anuja Patil getting the first breakthrough, it was Punam Raut who batted on and built partnerships. Initially, it was with Mona where they stitched a 47-run partnership and then the latter was out for 28.
Then with Hemalatha and Arushi Goel falling for 10 and 16 respectively, the going was getting difficult as Radha Yadav and Anuja Patil were making the most of the conditions. But it was the commendable partnership with Sneh Rana that proved to be the difference. The duo batted for 174 runs, scoring 77 runs as Sneh Rana got to a knock of 42. But a span of four overs saw Punam Raut perish for a well-played 209 ball 84. Central Zone eventually folded for 245 all out in 87.3 overs.
For West Zone, it was Anuja Patil who stood out with a five-wicket haul and was given much-needed support from the other end as Radha Yadav scalped three wickets and Sayali Satghare took 2 wickets.
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West Zone started batting in their first innings with Devika Vaidya and Riya Chaudhari giving a cautious and crucial start as they ended the day at 26/0 in 10 overs.
Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 – Day 1: Top Run Getters
Player | Team | Runs |
Dhara Gujjar | East Zone | 140 |
Punam Raut | Central Zone | 84 |
Deepti Sharma | East Zone | 49 |
Durga Murmu | East Zone | 49 |
Uma Chetry | East Zone | 47 |
Senior Women’s Inter Zonal Multi-Day Trophy 2023-24 – Day 1: Top Wicket Takers
Player | Team | Wickets |
D D Dutta | North East Zone | 5 |
Anuja Patil | West Zone | 5 |
Radha Yadav | West Zone | 3 |
Sayali Satghare | West Zone | 2 |
Sariba | North East Zone | 2 |
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