Women's cricket - One Day season review

Smriti Mandhana made the most of her opportunities in the Challenger Trophy

The women’s cricket season is at the half way mark, with the one day matches all concluded. The season began with a mixture of optimism and cynicism about the new format (see my last report).

Some teams played one match less than they did last year, but played against more competitive teams, so quality wins over quantity. The system works well for a team that finishes in the top two of a pool, which isn’t a given any more, as opposed to last season.

The competition can only be good for women’s cricket. The introduction of Kukaburra balls gave the pace bowlers more teeth, and rarely did a couple of wickets not fall in the first 10 overs.

The top four teams in the Elite group play another round robin league stage (The Super League), with the the winner decided by points. This however, means like net run rate could decide the winners, as opposed to a final.

Railways came out on top in the Elite division, remaining undefeated, mostly thanks to the efforts of their bowlers. Ekta Bisht (27 wickets), Shubhlaxmi Sharma (18) and Gouher Sultana (28) were the wreckers in chief. Southpaw Shweta Jadhav notched up the only century in the elite division in the league phase, while the Maharashtra duo of Anuja Patil and Snehal Pradhan picked up five-fors. Uttar Pradesh took the second spot after a three way tie was resolved by NRR.

The Plate division did not have the luxury of round robin matches. The top six teams played each other in knock outs, with two teams getting byes in their quarter finals. Bengal finished winners, leading an East zone 1-2, with Odhisa second.

The Inter Zonals were held at Baroda, where spinners wreaked havoc on the red soil pitches. Low scoring games, early wickets and late surges were a common feature of all the encounters. Central zone defended their title, winning all their round robin matches. North zone, on the back of some brilliant bowling by left arm spinner Priti Bose, clinched second spot.

Ranchi hosted the Challenger Trophy, marking the first major women’s tournament to be held at that ground. This tournament, which used to be a collection of the 45 best cricketers in the country split into three teams, changed its format last year with an U-19 team replacing India Green.

In the final, India Blue chased down India Red’s total of 183 easily to win the trophy. The stand out of the tournament though, was India U-19 captain Smriti Mandhana, who roared back into form after an indifferent senior season. Her 91 and 96* guided valiant chases, although both innings ended in losing causes. They did however, quash any doubts about the 17 year old’s ability to score big at the senior level.