T-20 Challenger Trophy (Women) organized by Dhanbad Cricket Association (DCA) concluded on Sunday at the CCWO ground, Dhanbad with the Blue team defeating the Red by five runs in a closely fought final match.

The day began at the ground at around 10.10 am with DCA (Red) winning the toss and electing to field.

Batting first DCA (Blue) scored 111 runs in the allotted 20 overs by losing nine wickets. Durga Kumari of DCA Blue who made the first unbeaten knock during the inaugural encounter on January 17 again proved to be the most successful player of her side today by scoring 30 runs on 23 bowls with the help of six boundaries. Pushpa Kumari and Dikshita Kumari scored 13 and 12 runs respectively for DCA Blue in an inning where wickets fell on regular intervals. The other two batsmen who reached the double-digit figure included Urmila (11) and Babli.

Ruma Kumari and Sunita Kumari of DCA Red took two wickets each while Supriya Saloni, Ankita Maurya and Nisha took one wicket each. Rest four players were run out.

Chasing the victory target, DCA (Red) also gave a tough fight and showed some good batting by scoring 106 runs in 20 overs on three wickets but lost the match due to slow run rate by a narrow margin of five runs.

For DCA Red Supriya Saloni showed some good batting also and scored 44 runs on 47 balls and remained unbeaten till the last over of the team inning. Sunita Kumari of DCA Red also showed good all-round performance as she scored 25 runs by playing 50 balls.

For the winning team DCA (Blue) Babli Kumari proved to be the most successful bowler as she took two wickets in four overs by giving 30 runs. The third wicket for the DCA (Blue) side was taken by Apurva Kumari who gave 15 runs in three overs.

Talking to the media during the prize distribution function, General Secretary of Dhanbad Cricket Association, Binay Singh said, “The tournament which was the first after the prolonged closure of pandemic was held successfully and all players showed good sporting spirit despite being away from the ground for a considerable period of over 10 months.”

“Other tournaments as per the DCA cricket schedule including inter-school cricket will also be organized,” said Singh.