Railways get the green signal to qualify for the Knock-outs

Playing their last match at the Group stage, the defending champions Railways locked horns with Mumbai women at Khandhari Stadium, Rajkot. Mithali Raj led Railways team are the favourites, with Mumbai camp putting in their heart and soul to qualify for the knockouts.

Early in the day, Raj won the toss and elected to bat first. A new opening pair took the field for Railways. Anagha Deshpande replaced Poonam Raut for today's game. She would have liked to spend some time in the middle, but Mumbai's premium pace bowler Manali Dakshini sent her back in the very first over. Mithali Raj came in to bat sooner than expected. Thirushkamini along with her captain played beautifully and stitched a comprehensive partnership of 160 runs. In the 40th over, Railways lost Raj, who was clean bowled by Mumbai medium pace bowler Sheral Rozario. It was like a dream come true for Sheral who disturbed the timber and got the better off Mithali. A splendid innings decked up with 11 boundaries and 2 sixes came to an end, when Sheral disturbed Thirushkamini's stumps. After creating a strong foundation, the upcoming Railways batswomen failed to capitalise on the start provided by Thirushkamini (96) and Mithali (63). Railways completed their innings with 208 runs on board, losing 8 wickets. The 13-year old child prodigy Fatima Jaffer continued her golden stint with the ball picking up 3 crucial wickets. Sheral Rozario (2-40) and Humaira Kazi (2-35) were the other wicket takers for Mumbai.

Chasing 209 against the opposition as good as Railways was a Herculean task. The strong bowling attack of Railways was the demon that Mumbai eves had to fight to keep their hopes alive for the knockouts. The onus was on senior players like Sulakshana Naik and Mumbai skipper Sunetra Paranjape to see their team through. Naik's (2) performance disappointed the team and the pressure surmounted in the Mumbai camp. The Railways bowlers kept coming at the Mumbai women and there was no resistance offered by the latter. Apart from Jemimah Rodrigues (45), none of the Mumbai batters looked in shape. Mumbai could just manage 99 runs in their full quota of 50 overs losing 9 wickets. Spinning duo of Ekta Bisht (3-18) and Sneh Rana (3-20) spun the wheel of fortune for Railways by picking up 6 of Mumbai's 9 wickets. Mumbai wickets kept falling at regular intervals giving them no respite. Medium pacer Kavita (1-8) and slow left arm bowler Rajeshwari (2-25) were the other bowlers who contributed with the ball for Railways.he champions

Getting it right four out of four times shows the dominance of Railways in senior women's one day league. Mithali Raj would want her team to go out all guns blazing in the knockouts and retain the championship. The news from the Elite Group A is that the defending champs Railways finish of on the first position with 16 points, followed by Mumbai and Punjab with 8 points each, and Andhra and Odisha are at the bottom of the table with 4 points.