Ridhima, Shambhavi, Alisa sparkle as J&K seals berth in historic knockouts

Women's U-15 J&K team posing for group photograph.
Women's U-15 J&K team posing for group photograph.

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Nov 26: Promising Ridhima Rajput’s brilliance with the ball, skipper Shambhavi Rajput’s elegance with the willow and gutsy Alisa Jan’s excellence with the bat, coupled with magnificence in the field helped Jammu and Kashmir to thrash Assam and seal berth in the knockout stage of the Women’s U-15 One Day Trophy at Salt Lake, Kolkata today.
Earlier, winning the toss and batting first, Assam scored a paltry total of 85 runs in 32.1 overs. Skipper Kaku Barman top scored with 19 runs off 36 balls with 2 boundaries, while Tareli Payeng contributed 16 off 21 balls with 2 boundaries. Ridhima Rajput was the wrecker-in-chief for J&K, who took 4 wickets by conceding just 9 runs in 5 overs, while Apeksha Verma bagged 2 wickets by giving away 15 runs in 7 overs. In reply, J&K chased the target easily in 11.1 overs, losing 2 wickets in the process, thus won the match by 8 wickets.
Skipper Shambhavi Rajput, who scored power-packed fifty earlier against formidable Delhi, again scored brisk unbeaten 36 off 26 balls including 8 crispy fours, while Alisa Jan scored 28 runs off 30 balls studded with 6 boundaries. Kayinat Bakshi was another batter to remain unconquered at her individual score of 3 runs. None of the Assam bowlers was successful as both the wickets to fall were run outs. It is for the first J&K has qualified for the knockout stage, thus a historic win.