Herons to face KiNi RR in Falcon Sports Club Golden Jubilee T20 Tournament's final

Herons and KiNi RR won their final encounters on the last day of the Falcon Sports Club Golden Jubilee T20 Tournament on Sunday (January 10) at the Samprasiddhi Sports Estadio in Bengaluru to set up a final clash on Tuesday (January 12).



Opting to bowl, Herons restricted Sheen to 35 for 2 in 8.1 overs with their top-order struggling to force the pace. Vrinda Dinesh was dismissed for 17-ball 10 by Monica Patel, while Jemimah Rodrigues could score only 12 from 22 balls before being removed by Aditi Rajesh.



However, Prathyoosha K and Deepti Sharma took the score to 84 for 2 at the end of the 15^th over, playing smartly, combining rotating the strike with hitting occasional boundaries.



The pair tried to accelerate the pace in the last few overs smashing Minnu Mani and Patel for a pair of boundaries each. Rajesh bowled a tight line and kept the batters in check giving away only 14 runs from her four overs. Sheen eventually finished at 123 for 2 from their 20 overs.



Chasing 124 to win, Divya Gnanananda started aggressively smashing the second ball for six before hitting Sharma for a four, but the off-spinner soon had her revenge dismissing Gnanananda in the same over for 11. Soon, Herons lost Minnu Mani too in the next over.



Rajesh started slowly, taking her time, scoring only 6 from her first 11 deliveries. She then smashed Padmaja E for two consecutive boundaries. Even though she lost Ayushi Soni at the other end, she continued batting sensibly and another pair of boundaries in the 17^th over left them needing only 25 from the last three overs.



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With Asha Joy’s six reducing Herons’ target to 15 from 12 balls, Rajesh took control, while bringing up her fifty with a single in the 19^th over. She then proceeded to hit a six to finish the match off in style and remained not out on 56.



For Sheen, Rakshitha Krishnappa took two wickets for 15 runs from 3.2 overs.



In the second match, having opted to bat first, KiNi RR lost two early wickets in Roshni Kiran and Vanitha VR to be reduced to 28 for 2 in 6.3 overs. However, that brought the pair of Punam Raut and Nuzhat Parween together and they added 90 runs for the third wicket.



The India international pair, combined attack with caution during their partnership hitting nine fours and a six. Once they were dismissed, it looked like Kini RR’s innings will be restricted to 120, but Arundhati Reddy smashed Pooja Kumari for four boundaries- including three sixes - in last four balls to take the score over 140.



For Ameya, Kumari finished with three wickets but was expensive, while Anuja Patil took two wickets for ten runs.



In reply, Veda Krishnamurthy started the Ameya innings off with three fours but was soon dismissed by Radha Yadav for 18. MD Thirushkamini and Nikki Prasad tried to attack, but couldn’t find enough boundaries as they fell behind the rate.



For KiNi RR, Shishira Gowda struck in the same over to remove both Thirushkamii and Prasad. Post their dismissal, none of the other batters could get quick out of the blocks and Ameya eventually fell 26 runs short.



Gowda finished with figures of 2 for 21 from her four overs.







KiNi RR will take on Herons in the final on Tuesday at the same venue in the afternoon, while Sheen and Ameya will play in the third and fourth place play-off in the morning.



Brief Scores:



Sheen Sports 123/2 in 20 overs (Prathyoosha K 59*, Deepti Sharma 32*) lost to Herons Sports 125/5 in 19.2 overs (Aditi Rajesh 56*; Rakshitha Krishnappa 2/15) by five wickets.



KiNi RR Sports 142/6 in 20 overs (Punam Raut 47, Nuzhat Parween 45; Pooja Kumari 3/47, Anuja Patil 2/10) beat Ameya Sports   116/5 in 20 overs (MD Thirushkamini 30; Shishira Gowda 2/21) by 26 runs.