UP eves start with a thrilling loss in T20

LUCKNOW : Uttar Pradesh had a poor start in their campaign in the Women’s Under-23 Twenty League as they went down fighting to Punjab by two wickets, at the Rajagiri College of Engineering and Technology Ground in Kochi on Tuesday.

Punjab chose to field first after winning the toss, and their all six bowlers, including skipper Neelam Bisht bowled on a tight line and didn’t allow Uttar Pradesh batswomen to free their arms, restricting them for 99/8.

Aditi struck highest and unbeaten 32, which came off 23 balls with the help of six fours, whereas opener Muskan Malik made 18 in 24 balls with the help of three fours.

Though Shivpriya Pandey (15) and skipper Anjali Singh (15) tried to adorn innings, to no avail as they kept losing wickets on regular intervals.

Amanjot Kaur (2/24) and Kanika Ahuja (2/12) bowled well for Punjab, whereas Komalpreet Kour, Sunita Rani and Rajni Devi supported them with a wicket each.

Their batswomen too came up with some fine show as openers Ridhima Aggarwal (21, 20b, 4x4) and Srishti Rajput (17, 26b, 2x4) stitched together 35 runs. Later, Amanjot stroked an unbeaten 40 in 33 balls with the help of seven fours to take the side home with two balls to spare for the loss of eight wickets.

For UP, Rashi Kanojiya remained the most successful bowler, bagging 3/19, whereas Anjali Singhand Tanu Kala shared two wickets between them. Now, UP play Kerala on Thursday.

UP IN QUARTERS

Former champions Uttar Pradesh would take on hosts Gujarat in their quarterfinal match of Under-23 CK Nayudu Trophy, starting Thursday at Valsad.

Uttar Pradesh, which finished with 32 points while winning four matches, losing two and drawing two, finished fifth in the combined Elite Group A and B.