CricInfo Trophy: Punjab races to ten wicket victory over Assam

Punjab defeated hosts Assam convincingly by ten wickets with 38.5 overs to spare in the first round of the CricInfo Trophy Senior Women's National Championship at the JDSA Ground in Jorhat on Monday. The winners moved into the quarterfinals.

Chasing a meagre target of 93 for victory, Punjab captain Gulshan (59 runs of 33 balls) and Anjuman Bassi (21 runs of 17 balls) made short work of Assam's bowling and reached their objective in the eleventh over. With her partner playing second fiddle, Gulshan plundered the attack from the word go and hit 12 boundaries.

Earlier, winning the toss and electing to bat, Assam were given a decent start with openers Rumi Boro (11 runs of 24 balls) and Rupa Begum (33 runs of 89 balls) putting on 24 runs off five overs. Then Assam lost four quick wickets and were gasping for breath at 32 for five. They continued to lose wickets at regular intervals and were all out in 39.5 overs. Besides the openers, only Suchitra Singh (17) reached double digits. Assam's inadequate total of 92 was boosted by as many as 21 extras. Punjab's Sandeep (4 for 9 of 8 overs) was easily the best bowler.