Red Bull Campus Cricket National Finals India 2022: Mumbai and Ranchi enter grand finale of women's edition

The Women’s edition of the Red Bull Campus Cricket (RBCC) National Finals India 2022 entered its second year when four teams made their way into the semi-finals of the mega event at the Mullanpur Stadium in Mohali. The two games witnessed four teams, viz. MGR Janaki College (Chennai), Rizvi College (Mumbai), Alfalah University (Delhi), and Marwari College (Ranchi), competing against each other to seal the finals berth.

Here’s the report of the two matches-

Semi-finals 1: MGR Janaki College (Chennai) vs Rizvi College (Mumbai) at Mullanpur Stadium, Mohali

Defending champions Mumbai were back on the big stage aiming for their second consecutive title when they locked horns with Chennai in the first semi-finals. Winning the toss, they put Chennai to bat first. Mumbai was into the game from the word go, as they did not let Chennai score many runs, and lowered them to 16/3 in the powerplay. Samiksha Bangal bagged two wickets, whereas Pereira Batul took one.

Chennai struggled badly to put some runs on the scoreboard. J Mythili (10 off 18) and T Hemamalini (8 off 17) tried to stitch a partnership, but could not withstand the Mumbai bowlers. Their struggle came to an end when Janvi Kate and Vrushali Bhagat wreaked havoc on the field as Chennai’s batting lineup came crashing down. The duo shared seven wickets among themselves in just five overs and dished out Chennai to end their innings at 42 runs in 13.5 overs.

Mansi Patil (6 off 4) and Sadhvi Sanjay opened the innings for Mumbai to start the chase, but the former was taken down very early, in just the second over, by R Deepika. Sejal Raut (16* off 11) and Sanjay (10 off 18) were brilliant on the pitch, as they stitched a 25-run partnership to cover up most of the target. Even after Sanjay’s dismissal, not much was left to be achieved. Mumbai chased the score within 6.2 overs and entered the finals in style.

Brief Scores: Mumbai defeated Chennai by 8 wickets

Chennai: 42/10 in 13.5 overs (J Mythili- 10(18); Janvi Kate- 4/6 in 2.5 overs)

Mumbai: 43/2 in 6.2 overs (Sejal Raut- 16*(11); J Mythili- 1/12 in 2 overs)

Semi-finals 2: Alfalah University (Delhi) vs Marwari College (Ranchi) at Mullanpur Stadium, Mohali

Winning the toss, Delhi elected to bat first. The openers struggled against the Ranchi bowlers and faced a blow when Mansi Sharma (8 off 19) lost her wicket to Devyani Prasad. Pratika Rawal (22 off 23) and skipper Ayushi Soni (10 off 18) were also slow in their innings but managed to add a few runs. After their dismissal, Riya Sapra (10 off 27) tried to bat her way, but her struggle ended when she was run out.

Ranchi had the upper hand throughout the first innings, as they restricted Delhi to just 84 runs in 20 overs, thereby picking six wickets in their run. Bhateri’s quick 16-ball 14 provided a little assistance to Delhi, but it was just not enough for the side. With a target of 85 runs, Ranchi started off their chase on a decent note.

After the dismissal of the openers Priyanka Sawaiyan (8 off 19) and Anamika Kumari (10 off 13), wickets fell in succession, and Delhi brilliantly restricted Ranchi to 25/3 in the powerplay. But little did they know about the nightmare that they were to face. Monika Murmu walked out to bat in the middle and notched up an unbeaten 32-ball 41* to take her team over the line as Ranchi won the game by four wickets, with 25 balls to spare, thereby making it to the finals.

Brief Scores: Ranchi defeated Delhi by 4 wickets

Delhi: 84/6 in 20 overs (Pratika Rawal- 22(23); Devyani Prasad- 2/15 in 4 overs)

Ranchi: 87/6 in 15.5 overs (Monika Murmu- 41*(32); Mahima Yadav- 3/7 in 3 overs)