A clinical all-round display by the Mussoorie Thunders saw them trump the Pithoragarh Hurricanes by a comfortable margin of eight wickets in Match 3 of the women’s leg of the Patanjali Uttarakhand Premier League 2024 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun on Friday, September 20. As a result, they have secured a berth in the final where they will face the Nainital SG Pipers on Saturday.
Electing to field first upon winning the toss, the Thunders applied a choke on the Hurricanes right through the first essay, restricting them to 119/7 in their 20-over quota. Having chased it down with as many as four overs to spare, they proved that it was a target way below par for the surface.
Nandini Kashyap (50* off 28) was the chief architect of a seamless chase even as openers Shagun Chaudhary (27 off 26) and Anjali Goswami (32 off 32) set things up with a quickfire start as they raced along to 40 in the first five overs. While the last powerplay over was a maiden and Chaudhary fell in the following over, it did not disrupt the flow of the chase with Kashyap dominating the bowlers right from the time she arrived in the middle.
She stated her intentions clearly with three boundaries off Neelam Bisht, who happened to bowl the aforementioned maiden. That transferred pressure firmly back on the bowlers as Kashyap waltzed along with Goswami watching from the best seat in the house and holding up her end to good effect. Goswami couldn’t be there to see the team through but Kashyap wrapped things up with a boundary that also saw her become the first half-centurion of the women’s UPL 2024.
Thunders skipper Mansi Joshi (2/25 off four overs) won the toss and elected to field first earlier in the morning. Her decision was proven right as she began with a maiden herself before Garima Bisht (1/15 off three overs) removed Ananya Mehra for a four-ball duck. The Hurricanes did pick themselves up with a partnership brewing between Muskan Kumari (32 off 33) and Neelam Bhardwaj (48 off 44).
Rudra Sharma brought the 66-run stand to an end in the 11th over as she sent Kumari packing but the Hurricanes lost momentum as Raghvi Bist (9 off 14) struggled during the course of her stay. Mansi landed the big wicket as she had Bhardwaj caught behind in the 17th over before returning to dismiss the dangerous Jyoti Giri (11 off 8) in the 19th. Prema Rawat (2/16 off four overs) then bagged a couple of wickets in the final over as the Thunders managed to keep the Hurricanes down to a modest total which was followed by a smooth chase.
The Thunders will now battle for glory with the SG Pipers on Saturday, September 21, at 7.30 PM IST.
Scores: Pithoragarh Hurricanes 119/7 in 20 overs (Muskan Kumari 32 off 33, Neelam Bhardwaj 48 off 44, Prema Rawat 2/16 off four overs) lost to Mussoorie Thunders 121/2 in 16 overs (Anjali Goswami 32 off 32, Nandini Kashyap 50* off 28, Safina Aziz 1/13 off three overs) by 8 wickets.
