Domestic cricket stalwarts Railways reached the final of the 2021 Women’s Senior One Day Trophy with a comfortable six-wicket win over Bengal on Thursday in Rajkot. The Mithali Raj-led side will take on Jharkhand, who beat Andhra Pradesh by 27 runs in the other semi-final, for the title.
Deepti Sharma scored a century, carrying on her good run on return to domestic cricket, taking Bengal to a solid 250/6 in 50 overs. Her 113 off 148 balls had 15 boundaries before she was dismissed in the final over.
But it was not enough as Railways overhauled the target with 63 balls to spare as all batters contributed. Openers Thirush Kamini (43 off 37) and Punam Raut (69 off 90) laid the foundation before Mona Meshram (36 off 31) and Mithali Raj (24 off 26) took the team home. Bengal, playing without Jhulan Goswami, were not able to attack with the ball.
Railways march into the final! 👏👏
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) April 1, 2021
The @M_Raj03-led unit beats Bengal in the @Paytm #OneDay Trophy #SF2 & secure a place in the summit clash. 👍👍 #RLWvBEN
Scorecard 👉 https://t.co/F2c9Ppg97f pic.twitter.com/pyi2jlGTFa
Ahead of the final, Railways have a number of fitness concerns. Kamini played through injury while Raut had to retire hurt and Rajeshwari Gayakwad walked off without finishing her quota of overs.
In the other semi-final, Rashmi Gudia scores an unbeaten 122 as Jharkhand posted 216/7. In response, Andhra Pradesh were all out for 189 with Mani Niharika finishing with figures of 10-0-25-4. N Anusha (51 off 67) and PV Sudharani (57 off 52) scored half-centuries.
Jharkhand secure a place in the final! 👍👍
— BCCI Women (@BCCIWomen) April 1, 2021
Rashmi Gudia's 1⃣2⃣2⃣* & Mani Niharika's 4⃣-wicket haul help Jharkhand beat Andhra by 2⃣7⃣ runs in the @Paytm #OneDay Trophy #SF1. 👏👏 #JHAvAND
Scorecard👉 https://t.co/6OnboAA0dw pic.twitter.com/CSjnp3tNKL
The final is on April 4 at Rajkot.
