Indoor Cricket Masters World Series
Indian Women Secure Big Victory Over Hosts Sri Lanka
Vice-Captain Surbhi Sharma Achieves Hat-Trick
Colombo, October 2: Sports Reporter- Bal Torasker
The Indoor Cricket Masters World Series, organized in collaboration with the Ceylon Indoor Cricket Association and sanctioned by the World Indoor Cricket Federation (WICF), is currently underway at the Austasia Sports Club in Thalawathugoda, Colombo, Sri Lanka. This tournament has been jointly organized by the U-Pro company, headed by Manish Kishor, after renovating four courts of the Ceylon Indoor Cricket Association. In the women's category for participants over thirty years of age, India achieved a significant victory over host Sri Lanka, defeating them by 19 runs with a score of 58-39.
This marks the first participation of the Indian women's team in global indoor cricket. With this victory, the Indian women's team has gifted sports enthusiasts their first win at the international level. India celebrated a 19-run victory over the formidable Sri Lanka. By fielding first, India made a strong move towards victory, restricting Sri Lanka to just 39 runs. The Indian bowlers delivered an outstanding performance, and the fielding was equally impressive.
In the first skin (set of four overs), Indian captain Disha Patel took 2 wickets in one over, significantly hindering Sri Lanka’s score and deducting 10 runs (5 runs deducted for each wicket). At that time, Sri Lanka's Nandika Premasiri scored 4 runs with 3 wickets lost, while Kumudu Jayasundara added 6 runs.
In the second skin (set of four overs), India took 3 wickets, putting further pressure on Sri Lanka's batting. Vishalakshi Prakash claimed 2 wickets, while Reshma Shetty took 1. In this phase, Sri Lanka's Shashikala De Silva scored 10 runs, and Shanika Wijesekara added 2 runs for a total of 12 runs.
In the third skin (set of four overs), India claimed 4 more wickets, dousing Sri Lanka’s hopes of victory. Kasturi Kolte took 3 wickets, while Vishalakshi Prakash added 1. During this set, Sri Lanka's Harshani Fernando scored 13 runs and Anushika Anthony did not score.
In the final skin (set of four overs), India claimed 5 wickets, preventing Sri Lanka from posting a big score. Disha Patel and Aritri Mitra each took 1 wicket, while vice-captain Surbhi Sharma took 3 wickets, achieving a hat-trick and becoming the first Indian player to do so.
While batting, in the first skin (set of four overs), the opening pair of Aritri Mitra (11 runs and 1 wicket) and Kasturi Kolte (8 runs and 3 wickets) added 19 runs to the scoreboard. In the second skin (set of four overs), vice-captain Surbhi Sharma (6 runs and 3 wickets) and Jyothi Chandrashekar (2 runs) contributed 4 runs. In the third skin (set of four overs), captain Disha Patel (12 runs and 3 wickets) and Reshma Shetty (8 runs and 1 wicket) added 20 runs, placing India in a strong position. Finally, in the fourth skin (set of four overs), the last pair, Pooja Jain (1 run) and Vishalakshi Prakash (14 runs and 2 wickets) secured victory by contributing 15 runs.
