Hosts Mumbai emerged champions by recording an authoritative 10-wicket victory against Bengal in the finals of the Senior Women’s, played at the Wankhede Stadium, Churchgate on Tuesday.
The Mumbai girls’ were a domineering lot and outplayed the visiting Bengal team with a degree of comfort.
Batting first, Bengal were restricted to a low total of 85 all out in 20 overs. Dhara Gujjar and Hirishita Basu were Bengal’s leading run-scorers with 26 and 18 runs respectively. Mumbai’s bowling attack comprising off-spinner Jagravi Pawar who picked three wickets for 13 runs and left-arm spinner Soumya Singh two wickets for 11 runs were responsible for destroying the rival batting.
In response, Mumbai’s opening batting pair of Vrushali Bhagat and Humairaa Kazi dominated the rival bowlers and scored freely to steer their team to 86 for no loss from 12.3 overs. Vrushali was unbeaten on 45 from 39 balls and her partner Humairaa also stayed unbeaten on 41 runs from 36 balls.
MCA President, Ajinkya Naik praised the efforts of the Mumbai team and announced an additional cash award of Rs 40 lakh to the winning team.
“Congratulations to the Mumbai Senior Women Team on this incredible T20 trophy victory! Your hard work and dedication has made us proud. In recognition of this achievement, the MCA will match the BCCI prize money of 40 lakh and offer an equal amount of Rs 40 lakh (total Rs 80 lakh). This win will inspire every young women cricketer in Mumbai to dream big and strive for excellence. Well done, Team Mumbai!”
Brief scores (final): Bengal 85 all out, 20 overs (Dhara Gujjar 26, Hirishita Basu 18; Jagravi Pawar 3/13, Soumya Singh 2/11) lost Mumbai 86 for no loss 12.3 overs (Vrushali Bhagat 45* (39-balls), Humairaa Kazi 41* (36-balls).