All-round Anushka Sharma and centuries from G Trisha, Soumya Tiwari headline opening day of U-19 One-Day Challenger

Challenger Trophy in Jaipur on Tuesday (November 2). While efforts of Sharma and Trisha resulted in a win for India B, Tiwari’s effort went in vain as India C went down against India D in a thriller.

At the RCA Academy Ground, opting to bat first against India A, Sharma and Trisha gave India B a solid start as they put on 188 runs for the opening wicket. Trisha was the first to bring up her fifty from 80 balls as the B side reached 100 in the 28^th over. Sharma joined her partner when she got to the fifty-mark from 88 balls. At the other end, Trisha continued her stroke-filled innings – she hit 17 fours in the process – as she reached the coveted milestone from 145 balls.

In the 44^th over, Chandasi Krishnamurthy finally provided India A with the breakthrough when she dismissed Sharma for 72. Even though Muskan Sogi accounted for Trisha when she dismissed the left-hander for 112, India B posted a healthy 221 runs on the board from their 50 overs.

For India B, Sogi picked up two wickets for 33 runs while Krishnamurthy and Nirmiti Rane took one wicket apiece.

In the chase, India A started off well with Roshni Kiran and Ishwari Savkar adding 59 runs for the opening wicket. However, Sharma ran Savkar out to break the partnership.

From there, Kiran and Aishmine Kaur took the score to 80 before Kiran fell to another run out for 51. Once Sharma - who brought herself on as the seventh bowling option - accounted for Kaur, India A lost wickets at regular intervals and succumbed to 129 all out in 41.3 overs from 110 for two.

In the 39^th over, Sharma took three wickets and completed her five-wicket haul with the scalp of Rane. She finished with figures of five for 18 from her ten overs. All five other wickets to fall were run outs.

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At the K L Saini Stadium, Tiwari scored 105 from 144 balls and shared a 74-run stand with Shubra Swain to take India C to 189 for eight from the stipulated 50 overs. For India D, skipper Neelam Bhardwaj, medium pacer Kashvee Gautam and Sonia Mendhiya picked up two wickets each.

Defending 189, India C struggled with their bowling and provided India D with lots of extras. This ill-discipline helped the opening batters to add 51 runs for the first wicket. From there, 30s from Mendhiya and Shweta Sawant kept India D on track in the chase.

Despite a four-wicket haul from Pooja Raj, India D sneaked home in the 48^th over with two wickets to spare. Mithila Vinod chipped in with two wickets for India C. While Mendhiya top-scored with 49-ball 38, India D were helped by the generous 44 runs that came as extras.

Brief Scores:

India B 221/4 in 50 overs (G Trisha 112, Anushka Sharma 72; Muskan Sogi 2/33) beat India A 129 in 41.3 overs (Roshni Kiran 51, Aishmine Kaur 29; Anushka Sharma 5/18) by 92 runs.

India C 189/8 in 50 overs (Soumya Tiwari 105, Subhra Swain 30; Sonia Mendhiya 2/19) lost to India D 190/8 in 47.4 overs (Sonia Mendhiya 38, Shewta Swant 33; Pooja Raj 4/36) by 2 two wickets