Amrutha, Kalyani steer West Zone to eight wicket win

Yesterday when the West Zone side were defending a smallish total against East Zone, they opted to shuffle their bowling line up and opened with off spinner Sonali Chandok. That paid rich dividends. Extending the thinking to today's game, West Zone opened the batting with Arti Vaidya and Amrutha Shinde. Amrutha batted in the middle order in the previous game and did not make too many runs. However, Amrutha played the sheet anchor role to perfection against South Zone, carrying her bat through the innings. In the company of her captain, Kalyani, who also picked up a half century she took West Zone to a comfortable eight wicket victory.

West Zone's second match in the CricInfo Rani Jhansi Trophy 2000 at the Chemplast IIT stadium got off to a less than ideal start when they lost the toss to the South Zone team. The South Zone captain Lakshmi had no hesitation in electing to bat. The conditions were ideal for batting with the ball coming on to the bat nicely. The fact that the outfield was perfectly green and trimmed made it lightning fast.

Opening the bowling, skipper Kalyani and Neelima bowled an impeccable line and length. Keeping the ball just short of a length and outside the off stump in the area Geoff Boycott calls the 'corridor of uncertainty' the two medium pacers choked the South Zone openers. Both Hamsavalli and Karuna Jain struggled to rotate the strike. Hamsavalli in particular struggled, playing over 20 balls before she could get off the mark. At the end of 15 overs, South could manage just 22 runs. Trying to push the scoring rate to something approaching what would be competitive, Hamsavalli fell being stumped by 'keeper Sulakshana Naik off the bowling of Amrutha Shinde. Lured out by the teasing loop of the spinner, Hamsavalli was beaten both in the air and off the wicket. Her slow innings of 38 balls yielded just seven runs.

Harsha Harinarayan came in at the fall of the first wicket and did not last long. Attempting to heave Nilima through the off side, Harsha ended up dragging the ball back onto her stumps.

Neelima had completed her 10 overs, bowling them on the trot. She ended with the impeccable figures of 10-3-17-1, picking up her only wicket in the last over of her spell. Bowling with good pace throughout her long spell, Neelima wholly deserved the wicket she picked. With luck on her side, she could easily have had another wicket to her name. In the 17th over, Sonali Chandok standing at slip grassed a chance that should have been taken. This let Harsha off the hook, but fortunately for West Zone, she was dismissed soon after.

A period of increased run scoring ensued after the 30th over. Vanita Viola played a few more shots than her team mates had, stroking the ball nicely through the off side. When the loose ball was on offer she was quick to capitalise, working it away into the outfield for runs. Vanita looked the most comfortable of the South Zone batswomen.

However, as the slog overs neared, the South Zone batswomen attempted more and more big shots, with very limited success. Having opened the bowling in her first game, off spinner Sonali Chandok played a very different role against South Zone. She was introduced late in the innings and bowled through to the close. Giving the ball a lot of air, she enticed the South Zone batsmen into false shots as they attempted to swing her over the onside field. Wickets fell at regular intervals and at the end of 50 overs South Zone had 137/9 on the board.

Even senior Indian men's cricketers have found it difficult to play the role of sheet anchor. They get bogged down and often are unable to rotate the strike. Amrutha on the other hand had no such trouble. Picking ones and twos at will she shut out the South Zone team completely. At the other end, her captain responded to situation in fine style. Playing the bowling on merit, Kalyani Umarani realised there was no hurry. When the ball was up for the shot, Kalyani planted her front foot down the wicket and swung the ball effortlessly through the on side.

It was fitting that Kalyani brought up her fifty in what turned out to be the last ball of the innings. The single that brought up her fifty also took West Zone to a comprehensive eight wicket victory.

At the end of the day, Amrutha Shinde was unbeaten on 59 while the captain Kalyani had scored exactly 50. Yesterday it was the same pair that got the runs, with 29 and 20 respectively.

West Zone have now won two out of two matches. Air India have also done the same. As the tournament progresses, the competition is heating up. West Zone are showing that they are one of the prime contenders for the trophy.