Indian Railways make it two in a row as Air India slump to 23 run loss

The eves from Indian Railways made it two out of two as they beat Air India to emerge victors in the Indira Priyadarshini Champions Trophy 2001. Having won the Senior Nationals played in Asansol earlier this year, the Railways team has now made a clean sweep of all the national level tournaments for women. With the Rani Jhansi tournament, to be held in Mumbai in early May, being the only one left for the season, the Railways team can stake a serious claim to being by far the best outfit in the country.

Although the tournament threw up many one sided games, with the two finalists dominating most games they played, it was expected that the final would be a closely contested affair. As it turned out, it was low scoring and anything but keenly fought. Securing victory by 23 runs, Indian Railways managed to put Air India's hopes to rest. Having played all the league matches at smaller venues around Kolkata, the teams came to Eden Gardens for the final. The longer boundaries must have played a role in the fact that Indian Railways managed just 210 after winning the toss and electing to bat first. As it turned out 210 was plenty.

The opening pair of Vanitha Viola and Rajani Venugopal once again served the Railways side well. Viola, from South Zone did not make it to the team that went to New Zealand for the CricInfo Women's World Cup, it must be remembered. Perhaps now that she has moved to Indian Railways, the selectors may look more closely at her. Vanitha Viola making a solid 45 (91 balls, 6 fours) at the top of the order, kept one end going even as Rajani Venugopal opened up and played a few shots. Rajani Venugopal, known as a fluent strokemaker, hit nine balls to the fence on the way to making 53 off 77 balls. The pair shared a fruitful 84 run opening stand, one that set up a strong platform for the side batting first.

Mithali Raj, tormenting her former teammates, struck 39 (54 balls, 3 fours) at number three, in a breezy 47 run stand for the second wicket with Vanitha Viola. With the hard hitting Hemalatha Kala (4) failing with the bat there was a small chance that the Air India bowlers might restrict Railways. As it turned out, Arundhati Kirkire, India's reserve stumper for the CricInfo Women's World Cup, scored a brisk 36 (39 balls, 4 fours) and Indian Railways put up a healthy if not imposing 210. For Air India, only the young but often wayward, Jhulan Goswami impressed with the ball, claiming 3/44 off 10 overs.

When Air India's turn came with the bat, it was a case of the big guns failing to deliver the goods. Already a depleted side, Air India depended heavily on its top order - Indian captain Anju Jain, vice captain of the Indian side Anjum Chopra and Purnima Rau, one of the most experienced cricketers on the scene. As expected, Anju Jain and Purnima Rau were upto the challenge. The stumper, made 42 at the top of the order, but was somewhat slowed down when Anjum Chopra was dismissed for a duck by GS Lakshmi with just 14 on the board. The elegant Delhi southpaw has failed before in crucial games, the CricInfo Women's World Cup semifinal is a case in point. Bowled first ball for nought by Kathryn Ramel, Chopra let down her teammates on that occasion as well.

Rumeli Dhar (8) disappointed and it was upto the Anju Jain-Purnima Rau pair to rebuild the innings. The pair added 63 runs for the third wicket before Anju Jain was run out. After the fall of Anju Jain's wicket, it was simply a case of delaying the inevitable. As Purnima Rau battled bravely at one end, wickets kept falling at the other. Neetu David, one of India's most reliable spinners in the recent past ran through the middle order, claiming 4 wickets for 27 off her 10 overs. Neetu David's scalps included the key wickets of allrounder Smitha Harikrishna (22) and Sunaina Mehan (3). Purnima Rau was trapped lbw for 71 (84 balls, 9 fours) by Sunita Singh and that was the end of the Air India challenge. Limping to 187/9 off their allotted 50 overs, Air India conceded Railways victory by 23 runs.

Neetu David, was named player of the match for her crucial spell while Andhra Pradesh's Monica Preethi was adjudged player of the tournament.