Anjum stars as Air India demolish Delhi

Air India won their quarterfinal encounter against Delhi by eight wickets in the CricInfo Trophy women's National Cricket Championship at the Jorhat Stadium at Jorhat on Monday.

Set a target of 180, Air India made a shaky start losing Anju Jain (5) with the score at 6 in the third over. But Anjum Chopra (82 not out of 75 balls) and Mithali Raj (58 runs of 50 balls) laid the foundation for the victory with a 131-run stand in 23.5 overs for the second wicket. Then Anjum Chopra and Mamta Mamben (14 not out of 12 balls) guided Air India towards victory in 35.1 overs.

Earlier, winning the toss and electing to bat, Delhi lost opener Rakhi Mehra (15) at 20 in the fourth over. But S Jaya (35 runs of 77 balls) and Sima Wadhwa (14) added 50 runs in 12.3 overs for the second wicket. Then M Reema (51 runs of 72 balls) joined Jaya in a fourth wicket stand that realised 44 runs in 12.3 overs. After the departure of Jaya, Asha Jain (13) and Reema added 26 runs for the fifth wicket in 5.3 overs. But once the fifth wicket fell at 148, Delhi lost its way and managed only 179 in the alloted 40 overs.