Mumbai girls thrash Gujarat to win the Womens U-23 West Zone Championship

Mumbai girls had applied the top gear right from the start and were oozing with confidence when they faced Gujarat at Sachin Tendulkar Gymkhana, Kandivli, in the last match of Inter-Zonal Women’s U-23 cricket tournament on Monday. Scoring 300 plus runs in a women’s domestic game is a rare commodity, however Mumbai, who won the toss and elected to bat first, played an all-together different cricket. They were aggressive, they were ruthless and they just tore apart the Gujarat bowling attack. The opening pair of Hemali Borwankar (116) and Jemimah Rodrigues (101) left everybody speechless, thanks to their wonderful batting performance. Both the openers scored magnificent centuries, which came in quick time as well. A few cameos towards the end and Mumbai saw itself crossing the formidable 300-run mark. The Gujarat bowlers looked listless as they had no answers for Mumbai’s blitzkrieg.

After being hammered brutally, Gujarat was low on confidence. Mumbai bowlers struck the iron when it was hot and rattled the Gujarat batting line up for a paltry 97, winning the match by a mammoth margin of 230 runs. Saima Thakore, who played her first game of the tournament, made the most of the opportunity as she picked up 4-15 in her 10 overs. Jemimah Rodrigues (3-19), Manashree Gavande (2-23) and Humaira Kazi (1-2) were the other bowlers among wickets.

Apart from their loss to Maharashtra on Saturday, Mumbai girls have looked in good touch. Having won three out of four matches, they emerged as the West Zone U-23 champions with 12 points. They have played well as a team and have certainly reaped the sweet fruits of their hard work.

Brief scores: Mumbai 327-4 in 50 overs (H Borwankar 116, J Rodrigues 101, M Joshi 45; A Patel 2-55) beat Gujarat 97 in 41.2 overs (R Chaudhari 20, H Patel 17; S Thakore 4-15, J Rodrigues 3-19, M Gavande 2-23) by 230 runs