* Gujarat’s Hrutvisha Patel takes hat-trick
Excelsior Sports Correspondent
JAMMU, Nov 29: Riding on good contributions from Sonika and skipper Sanjana coupled with brilliant fielding effort by the entire team, J&K thrashed Tamil Nadu by a big margin of 75 runs to seal berth in the semifinals of the ongoing 61st National School Games-2015-16 in the discipline of Cricket Under-17 Girls, being organized by the Directorate General, Youth Services & Sports at different venues, here.
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana also made it to the last four stages with their convincing victories over their rivals today.
At MA Stadium, J&K eves defeated Tamil Nadu in a one sided contest by 75 runs. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, J&K scored a decent total of 129 runs in stipulated 13 overs. Sonika was the top scorer with 38 runs, while Sanjana scored valuable 24 runs and Huzaifa contributed 10 runs. For Tamil Nadu, Swati, Sheweta and Subiksha claimed one wicket each.
In reply, Tamil Nadu managed to score 54 runs by losing 6 wickets in the allotted overs, thus lost the match by 75 runs. Pavitra top scored with 17 rus, while Deepa contributed 5 runs to the total. Iqra, Aditi and Ishani claimed one wicket each for J&K.
In another match at MA Stadium, Punjab defeated Gujarat by 7 wickets. Batting first, Gujarat made 81/2 in the stipulated 15 overs. Camy Desai was the top scorer with 33 runs, while Daimanti and Hrutvisha Patel contributed 18 and 13 runs to the total respectively. Anjali and Kanika picked one wicket each for Punjab.
Punjab, in reply chased the target in 9.1 overs by losing 3 wickets to win the match by 7 wickets. Parul scored unbeaten 34 runs, while Navdeep contributed 13 runs to the total. For Gujarat, Hrutvisha Patel took a hat-trick, bowling 2.1 overs and conceding 14 runs and claiming all the three wickets to fall.
AP got better of NVS in another match at MA Stadium. Batting first, AP scored a fighting total of 113 runs. Sindhuja made 59 runs, while Nasavi Akhita contributed 31 runs to the total. Sujanu claimed one wicket for NVS.
In reply, NVS managed to score 72 runs in 15 overs, thus lost the match by a big margin of 41 runs. Sireshta and Monika scored 22 and 20 runs respectively. Anusha claimed one wicket for AP.
In the first match at Jammu University, Punjab defeated Maharashtra by 5 runs. Punjab scored 106 in 15 overs, while Maharashtra managed to score 101 runs to lose the match by a narrow margin of 5 runs. For Punjab, Kanaka and Parul scored 44 and 30 runs respectively, while for Maharashtra Sakshi and Vedica scored 45 and 26 runs respectively.
In another match at University ground, Maharashtra drubbed NVS by 10 wickets. NVS made 59 runs, while Maharashtra chased it in 8.3 overs without losing a wicket.
In the match at KC Public School ground, Telangana defeated CBSE by 5 wickets in a thrilling contest on the pen-ultimate ball of the match. CBSE scored 100 runs, while Maharashtra chased the target on the fifth ball of the last over by losing 5 wickets, thus won the match by 5 wickets.
The matches were officiated by Ahish Galzale, Balraj, Saleem-ul-Rehman, Rajkumar, Gurvinder Singh, Satpal Singh, Sadiq Husain Malik, Atul Solanki, Ashok Dass, Nazir Ahmed, Rakesh Choudhary, Madan Mohan and Swati.