Maharashtra and Railways, led by Smriti Mandhana and Sneh Rana respectively, reached the last four of the Women’s T20 Trophy after victories in their quarterfinal matches on Saturday.
While Maharashtra got the better of Himachal Pradesh by nine wickets, Railways proved to be too strong for Kerala and won by 71 runs.
Women’s T20 Trophy: Radha Yadav-led Baroda defeat Jemimah Rodrigues’ Mumbai to enter semifinals
Later in the day, Odisha completed the last four lineup with a 13-run win against Shafali Verma’s Haryana to continue their unbeaten in the tournament.
Asked to bat first at the Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, Himachal Pradesh were dealt a massive blow when the in-form Harleen Deol was dismissed for a duck in the second over by Shradda Pokharkar.
Prachi Chauhan, in at No 3, remained unbeaten on 41 off 47 but she got little support from the rest of the batters as Himachal managed to post a total of just 100/9 in their 20 overs.
Leg spinner Devika P Vaidya was the pick of the bowers for Maharashtra and returned with figures of 3/18 from her four overs.
In reply, skipper Mandhana (46* off 36) and her opening partner Shivali Shinde (42 off 40) added an 80-run stand for the first wicket in quick time to all but seal the deal for Maharashtra.
In the second quarterfinal on Saturday, Railways were put in to bat first by Kerala at the CK Pithawala Ground in Surat and ended up posting a solid total.
Dayalan Hemalatha came in one down and scored a superb 64 off 37 with nine fours and two sixes, before skipper Rana remained unbeaten on 39 off 21 batting at No 5.
Railways finished with 166/6 in their 20 overs and then restricted Kerala to 95/9 to register a comprehensive win.
Kerala lost their top three with just 24 runs on the board and they got some contributions from the middle order but it wasn’t nearly enough.
Asha S was the standout bowler for Railways and picked 3/19 in her four overs.
Semifinals lineup:
May 2, 830 am IST: Maharashtra vs Baroda
May 2, 430 pm IST: Railways vs Odisha
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