WPL: Chandigarh Chandnis beat Madhya Pradesh Magicians to win title

Chandigarh Chandnis team receive the Women's Premier League trophy from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis' wife Amruta at the MIG Cricket Club in Bandra yesterday. PICs/SURESH KARKERA

AN all-round performance helped Chandigarh Chandnis register a 41-run win over Madhya Pradesh (MP) Magicians to emerge champions of the inaugural Women's Premier League held in association with mid-day at MIG Cricket Club in Bandra (East) on Women's Day. Electing to bat, Chandigarh managed to score 128-7 in the stipulated 20 overs. Divya Sharma was the highest scorer with 41, a knock that included seven fours.

In response, MP were bundled out for 87 in 16.3 overs with skipper Shakti Raut (34) waging a lone battle even as wickets kept falling at the other end. Medium pacer Jyoti Kumari was the pick of the bowlers for Chandigarh with 4-4. Her wickets included Ayushi Dongre (3), Bhavna Srivastav (0), Jyoti Sedere (0) and Chetna Bairagi (0). Jyoti was declared the Player of the Match.

Surprise victory
Chandigarh captain Mamta Kothiyal was surprised with her side's performance. "Frankly, I didn't expect our team to win after we scored just 128. Thanks to Jyoti's brilliant bowling we could make a comeback and win the final," said Mamta. Meanwhile, MP skipper Shakti attributed her side's defeat to the batting collapse: "We had a good batting line-up, but it didn't click for us today. Giving away too many extra runs cost us dear too."

Earlier, in the morning, members of both teams were pleasantly surprised to meet Jemimah Rodrigues, 17, who recently became the youngest player to be selected in the Indian women's cricket team. Jemimah was at the venue for a practice session. Indeed, Bandra girl Jemimah made Women's Day extra special for Mamta Kothiyal, the Chandigarh captain. Mamta scored a century in the semi-final against Uttarakhand Divas on Wednesday. On hearing about her feat, Jemimah got in touch with Mamta and asked to meet her on the morning of the final. Before the game yesterday, Jemimah gifted Mamta her cricket whites.

'Wonderful Jemimah'
"I couldn't stop myself from taking her autograph on them. She is a wonderful cricketer and I even took some batting tips from her. "She told me how consistency is important in cricket in order to play for India," Mamta, 23, told mid-day yesterday. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh captain Shakti Raut, said, "Jemimah is extremely talented and most of our girls were watching her practice rather than warming up themselves for our final. "Though she is just 17, she is bigger than all of us in stature and is an inspiration to many girls like us."

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