Ira lights up Brabourne

Shardashram Vidyamandir players celebrate the Manoramabai Apte U-16 tournament triumph at Brabourne Stadium yesterday

Versatile all-rounder Ira Jadhav smashed a 59-ball 106 to steer Shardashram Vidyamandir English Medium (Dadar) to a comfortable 67-run victory over Parag English School (Bhandup) in the final of the Manoramabai Apte girls Under-16 inter-school cricket tournament at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday. The Dadar schoolgirls won their second successive title and sixth overall.

Birthday gift for Ira

Opening batter Ira earned herself a perfect birthday gift at the Cricket Club of India as she turned 14 on Monday. She played with loads of confidence and dominated the Parag English bowling attack, hitting 13 exquisite fours and a solitary six during her 80-minute stay in the middle.

Ira Jadhav, who scored a century against Parag English School. Pics/Satej Shinde

Left-handed batter Mugdha Parte chipped in with 26 as Shardashram scored 165 for 6 in 20 overs. Later, Parag English made steady progress, but were unable to accelerate the scoring. They were always behind the run-rate in their chase.

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Parag restricted to 98-5

Opener Tanish Sharma scored 33 while her opening partner Laxmi Saroj and Akshara Singh contributed 19 each; the team finishing at 98 for five in 20 overs. Ira was thrilled to make a big impact on her team's success.

"It feels great to score a ton on my special day and emerge champions. Scoring a century in the final proves that my hard work is paying dividends and there is a definite improvement in my batting," said Ira, who is Mumbai's Under-15 captain and a member of the Under-19 team.

Ira also opened the bowling and after three overs, wore the wicketkeeper's gloves. "I am a complete all-round cricketer, capable of playing all roles," she said. Earlier in the day, former India captain Diana Eduji was the chief guest at the toss.