Kalyani helps West Zone make it three out of four

West Zone proved today that they are the side to watch after Air India and Indian Railways. Their skipper Kalyani stole the show with an unbeaten 75. When West came out to bowl, they put on a thoroughly professional show, skittling out North Zone for 120 and won the match easily by 48 runs.

Losing the toss for the fourth consecutive time, West Zone were put in to bat at the India Pistons CPT Ground. Newcomer Triptimani Rocque opened the batting with Amrutha Shinde. Amrutha, who has scored proficiently in the series thus far was in good nick, middling the ball well from the start. In three games she has made scores of 29,59 and 44. The North Zone medium pacers Asha Jain and Vandana bowled straight up and down, not attempting anything fancy. Striving for the yorker they delivered more full tosses than they would have liked and were eased through the off side.

Though she was solid, Triptimani could not get the ball into the gaps and struggled to rotate the strike. After a longish stay at the crease, she drove a ball on the up straight back to Asha Jain. Bending low, the bowler snapped up the catch and sent the West Zone opener on her way for just 1.

At the fall of the first wicket, the West Zone captain walked out to the middle. Kalyani seemed in no hurry at all. In the company of Amrutha, Kalyani settled into a good rhythm. Driving the ball firmly into the outfield, the two ran hard. They kept the scoreboard ticking over and kept the fielders on their toes.

After making a quick 28, Amrutha played down the wrong line to an Asha Jain delivery and was bowled. Vice captain Sunetra Paranjpe replaced Amrutha at the wicket and began slowly. Not attempting to drive hard, Sunetra grafted for runs, but could make only 14 before she was trapped LBW by Anjuman.

Arti Vaidya who usually opens the innings went in at the fall of the third wicket. She looked comfortable and once again West Zone had a good partnership going.

Asha Jain and Vandana Gupta bowled long spells, finishing their full complement of overs on the trot. While this strategy has been employed successfully by other teams in the tournament, it did not do North Zone much good today. Both bowlers were visibly tired and dropped pace by the end of their spells. Asha ended with 2/32 off her 10 overs while Vandana finished with none for 27 off ten.

Arti Vaidya attempting to boost the scoring rate played the ball airily through the on side but could not clear the fielder at mid wicket. Her 12 runs came off 23 balls.

Sangeeta Kamat followed but did not last long. After she had made just four, she lofted the ball straight to Asha Jain off the bowling of Reema Malhotra.

While wickets fell at one end, Kalyani went from strength to strength. Having taken her time to settle down, Kalyani opened up after she had got some runs on the board. Playing the ball predominantly along the ground, the West Zone captain moved swiftly to her half century. After crossing the landmark, Kalyani went after the spinners in right earnest, hitting across the line with ease. Employing her favourite hoick through midwicket, Kalyani took West Zone to a sizable total.

Wicketkeeper Ashwini Nadkarni back in the side for this encounter, ran hard, keeping her captain good company. Converting ones to twos and twos to threes, the pair motored along till Ashwini was run out.

Sonali Chandok, the last batswoman, came out to bat in the final over of the innings. Coming down the wicket to Reema Malhotra, Sonali attempted a wild heave over the on side but missed the ball completely. Gurdeep Kaur behind the stumps whipped the bails off and the West Zone innings came to an end at 168 in 49.1 overs.

Unbeaten and unscathed, Kalyani walked off the field to generous applause having made 75, one of the highest individual scores of the tournament. This innings follows her unbeaten 50 against South Zone.

North Zone had no answer to the accuracy of the West Zone bowlers. Opening the bowling and completing her quota of 10 overs without a break, Neelima Choudry once again proved that accuracy is everything in limited overs cricket. Yesterday against Indian Railways, she bowled her 10 overs for just 10 runs. Today she bettered that performance and ended with figures of 10-5-7-1. This really choked North Zone for runs. Though they did not lose wickets initially, the rate of scoring was so slow that the pressure began to mount. With every passing over, the asking rate crept up.

When off spinner Sonali Chandok was brought on to bowl, Gulshan tried to ease the tension by slogging her over the on side. Beaten in the air, she ended up hitting the ball straight down Sangeetha Kamat's throat at mid wicket.

At the 40 over mark, North Zone had just under 100 runs on the board. The game was all but over and the formalities were completed by Sangeetha Kamat and Amrutha Shinde, the former bowling her mediumpacers wicket to wicket. Helping herself to 4/25 off nine overs she proved to be a good foil for Amrutha whose fast leg breaks were too much for the tailenders.

With the sun blazing down, and players tired, the game ended in the 49th over when North Zone were bowled out. West Zone now have three wins from four games and will enjoy a well earned rest day tomorrow. Their next match is against Air India and will probably prove to be the toughest of the lot.