Vidarbha eves romp to 2nd straight win
   Date :16-Mar-2021

Bharti Fulmali Vaishnavi
 
 
Principal Correspondent :
 
HARD-HITTING batswoman Bharti Fulmali missed out on a well-deserved century while right-arm leg spinner Vaishnavi Khandkar bowled a superb spell as Vidarbha women’s scripted their second successive victory in the ongoing Women’s One-Day Championship on Monday. In their opener Vidarbha had thrashed Meghalaya by 146 runs. On Monday, Vidarbha defeated strong Tamil Nadu by 53 runs to continue their winning march in the competition at TI Murugappa Ground in Chennai.
 
One down batswoman Bharti Fulmali continued from where she left in the first match as she hit a well controlled 94 runs after With the help of Fulmali’s fine innings Vidarbha managed to put up a competitive target of 207 runs for Tamil Nadu. Vidarbha lost both the openers —Vaishnavi Khandkar (1) and Ankita Bhondage (2) by the sixth over. But Fulmali held the fort playing a very responsible innings. Her 116-ball stay in the middle had 11 balls to the fence and one over it. Fulmali and Ayushi Pophali stitched 92 runs for the fifth wicket which helped them cross the 200-run mark. However, there was hardly any contribution from other batswoman. Disha Kasat (0), Nupur Kohale (14), Reena Paul (14) and Shewta Naidu (10), all failed to score big and fell cheaply.
 
For Tamil Nadu, captain Nethra L and Niranjana Nagarajan took three wickets each while S Anusha and KN Ramyashri took one each. Chasing 208, Tamil Nadu were bundled out for 154 in 45.2 overs. Vidarbha tasted success early as they managed to send back opener Arshi Choudhary (1) in the second over. Pacer Gargi Wankar bowled on the spot as Choudhary nicked one to keeper Naidu for an easy catch. Ankita Bhongade then got the big fish in rival captain Nethra L (15) with a direct hit for a run out.
 
Nagarajan and Anusha then tried to stable their innings with a 46 runs stand but the partnership was broken when Anuja was sent back by Wankar for 22. Nagarajan followed suit as she missed a Disha Kasat’s line only to be stumped by Naidu for 41. Khandkar and Nupur Kohale then wiped off the tail to hand Vidarbha a commanding win. Khandkar took four wickets for 36 runs while Wankar took two. Vidarbha will play their third match against Himachal Pradesh on Thursday.