How Women’s Cricket Was The Most Impacted By The Pandemic

The Covid-19 pandemic has grappled the world since 2019 and even stopped sporting activities in the past two years. And once it was resumed, it made cricket more gendered than it has been ever before. While the Indian women cricket team, runners-up in the World T-20, had to wait for 12 months for their next venture, their male counterparts enjoyed their share of matches.

The BCCI cancelled the women series one after another, citing logistical issues, while carrying on with the billion-dollar extravaganza, the IPL. Women cricketers played four matches but at the same time that barred some of the cricketers to travel to Australia for WBBL, the most prominent women cricket league at the moment.

However, as the BCCI decided to organise the Domestic Senior tournament in March, the Cricket Association of Bengal also organised two tournaments for their women cricketers. Payel Vakariya’s all-around brilliance helped the CAB Blue team defeat the Grey team by five wickets to win the CAB Women’s One Day Tournament.

Rich Ghosh, Grey Team skipper, won the toss and elected to bat first. Though they lost one of the openers early, Riya Das (45) helped the side to keep going. She added 54 runs with the skipper Richa Ghosh for the third wicket. Her patient was 45 off 81 deliveries and steadied the innings till Manika Mal sent her back.

Richa, who has scored 324 runs in four innings, was the key for her side. So when she was removed due to miscommunication with the partner, the side was on 128/5. Though the side failed to make any good partnership, wicket-keeper Shrabani Paul added useful 33 runs with the bat for Grey to take the score to 192. Sasthi Mondal, Manika, Payel bagged two wickets apiece for the Blue team.

While chasing, Payel and Sansthita (37) stitched a 55-run partnership to give Blue’s a good start. As Sansthita was sent back to the pavilion, Swati joined the rank of Payel and added 79 runs for the second wicket to script the victory. Payal went on to smash 58 crafted with nine boundaries to lay the foundation for the victory. As Ritika Pal claimed Payel’s wicket, Blue’s skipper Prativa Rana played a responsible knock of unbeaten 34 runs to ensure the win. Riya Das after her knock with the bat bagged two wickets for the Grey team but in vain.

Final: CAB GREY: 192/10 (Richa Ghosh 46, Payel Vakaria 2/16) lost to CAB BLUE: 193/5 (Payel Vakaria 58, Riya Das 2/25) by 5 wickets

Semi-Final 1

Batting first Grey team rode on another masterclass innings by skipper Richa Ghosh (99) to post a total of 235/7 while Green team captain Dhara Gujjar also starred with the bat by smashing 100 off 119 balls to finish on 235/8. Moli Mondal bagged 4 wickets for the Grey team leaking just 31 runs.

CAB GREY: 235/7 (Richa Ghosh 99, Rupa Dutta 2/43) tied with CAB GREEN: 235/8 (Dhara Gujjar 100, Moli Mandal 4/31). Grey Won as they lost fewer wickets

Semi-Final 2

In another match, Blue team bowlers did well to bundle out the Pink team for 133 runs as Manika Mal took three wickets and Pampa Sarkar and Koel Sutradhar bagged two wickets apiece. Sansthita Biswas made 69 for the Blue team while chasing to win the match comfortably.

CAB PINK: 133/10 (Antara Ghosh 39, Manika Mal 3/19 ) lost to CAB BLUE: 135/5 (Sansthita Biswas 69, Antara Ghosh 1/11) by 5 wickets.

Top 5 Batters In This Tournament

Top 5 Bowlers In This Tournament

Group A

Match 1.CAB BLUE: 103/10 (Swati Shaw 16, Megha Ghosh 2/10) lost to CAB YELLOW: 104/5 (Anamika Das 31, Puja Rajak 2/15) by 5 wickets

CAB Yellow defeated Blue by five wickets in the CAB Women’s One Day tournament opener today. Electing to bat first Blue could only score 103 losing all wickets as Yellow bowlers didn’t let any batters settle. Priti Choudhury and Megha Das bagged two wickets apiece for Yellow and Anamika Das hit 31 off 48 balls to win the match by wickets while chasing.

Match 2.CAB RED:120/10 (Priyanka Kurmi 48, Mita Paul 5/18) lost to CAB PINK: 121/3(Mita Paul 35*, Rukmini Roy 1/14) by 7 wickets

Also read: What Does The Captaincy Row With Kohli Tell Us About The BCCI?

CAB Pink skipper Mita Paul put up an all-round show to help CAB Pink beat the Red team in CAB Women’s One Day Cricket tournament today. Mita ripped through the opponent’s batting lineup with five for 18 to bundle Red out for 120. Priyanka Kurmi added some crucial runs with a patient 84-ball 48. Mita starred with the bat too with an unbeaten 35 while Kashis Agarwal scored 32 to win the match.

Match 3.CAB YELLOW: 111/10 (Saika Isaque 24, Mita Paul 4/16) lost to CAB PINK: 115/2 (Mita Paul 39*, Salma Khatun 1/15) by 8 wickets

Mita Paul bagged four wickets to power CAB Pink to defeat the Yellow team by eight wickets. Batting’s first Yellow team were bundled out for 111 runs as Mita took four along with Tapati Pal (2-23), Antara Ghosh’s (2-19) good spell. While chasing skipper Mita stayed unbeaten on 39 along with Tapati (22) to win the match in 31 overs.

Match 4.CAB RED: 141/10 (Priyanka Kurmi 34, Koel Sutradhar 4/17) lost to CAB BLUE: 142/3 (Sansthita Biswas 48, Sneha Gupta 1/11) by 7 wickets

Koel Sutradhar starred with the ball by bagging a four-wicket haul and helped CAB Blue beat the Red team by seven wickets. Batting first Red team were bundled out for 141 runs and while chasing the Blue team opener Sansthita Biswas hit 48 to get off to an easy start while Prativa Rana (27), Payel Vakaria (20), and Swati Shaw (21*) ensured victory with their crucial contributions.

Match 5.CAB BLUE: 254/5 (Sansthita Biswas 59, Barnali Tamuli 1/33 ) defeated CAB PINK: 178/6 (Antara Ghosh 53, Pampa Sarkar 1/13) by 76 runs

Batting first Sansthita Biswas (59), Puja Rajak (58*) half-centuries along with skipper Prativa Rana’s 41 helped the Blue team post 254/5 in their quota of overs. While chasing for the Pink team Antara Ghosh (53) and Kashis Agarwal (43) tried to steady the innings after a disastrous start losing openers for 12 runs but unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to save the day for them. The pink team was restricted to 178/6.

Match 6.CAB YELLOW: 214/10 (Mamta Kisku 60, Bidisha Dey 2/28 ) defeated CAB RED: 168/9(Ankita Chakraborty 64, Saika Isaque 2/21) by 46 runs

Skipper Mamta Kisku and Saika Isaque’s half-centuries helped CAB Yellow beat the Red team by 46 runs in CAB Women’s One Day tournament today.

Batting first Yellow team amassed 214 losing all wickets and in reply Red team was restricted to 168/9. Earlier Yellow team got off to a shaky start after being reduced to 53/4 and Mamta led from the front with fluent 60 along with Saika’s 44-ball 50. Bidisha Dey, Rukmini Roy and Sneha Gupta bagged two wickets for the Red team. Red skipper Ankita Chakroborty did well with a patient 119-ball 64 and Sneha Gupta contributed with 40 but Yellow bowlers did well to restrict RED on 168.

Group B

Match 1.CAB MAROON:183/9 (Jhumia Khatun 66, Bristi Maji 3/25) lost to CAB ORANGE:187/8 (Dyuti Paul 68, Jhumia Khatun 2/25) by 2 wickets

CAB Orange defeated Maroon by two wickets in the tournament opener. Batting first Maroon amassed 183/9 and the Orange team chased it down to finish on 187/8. After Maroon was reduced to 63/5 skipper Jhumia Khatun steadied the ship with a fluent 66 off 78 deliveries while Brishti Majhi picked up 3 wickets, Ananya Halder and Priti Saha bagged two wickets apiece. Dyuti Pal hit a classy 68 to master the chase with the help of Bristi’s 26 and Sukanya Parida’s 22.

Match 2.CAB GREEN: 282/6 (Dhara Gujjar 135*, Riya Das 3/30) defeated CAB GREY: 189/10 (Richa Ghosh 29, Sweety Deyashi 2/8 ) by 93 runs

Skipper Dhara Gujjar led from the front with an unbeaten ton as CAB Green defeated the Grey team by 93 runs. Dhara scored 135 off 143 balls to help Green post 282/6 in their quota of overs while Rupa Dutta added crucial 46 runs and Riya Das bagged three wickets for Grey. While opening, Dhara hit 19 boundaries and a six on her way to an unbeaten 135. In reply, the Grey team could only score 189 runs losing all wickets as Green team bowlers took wickets in regular intervals. Jhumpa Roy and Shruti Deyashi took two wickets apiece.

Match 3.CAB MAROON: 193/10 (Jhumia Khatun 47, Sushmita Ganguly 3/25) lost to CAB GREEN: 197/7 (Dhara Gujjar 84, Jhumia Khatun 2/31) by 3 wickets

Dhara Gujjar continued her superb form to help CAB Green maintain winning momentum by beating the Maroon team by 3 wickets in CAB Women’s One Day tournament today.

Electing to bat first Maroon team amassed 193 all out and the Green team chased it down thanks to Dhara’s 84 in 40.5 overs. Maroon skipper Jhumia Khatun hit 47 while Sush Ganguly was the highest wicket-taker for Green with three for 25. While chasing Dhara smashed 84 off 78 balls along with a well-made 46 from Rupa Dutta to master the chase and Jhumia starred with the ball too bagging two wickets. Mamani Roy bagged one wicket and scored 21 runs for the Maroon team.

Match 4.CAB GREY: 298/9 (Richa Ghosh 151, Sukanya Parida 3/27 ) defeated CAB ORANGE: 279/9 (Sukanya Parida 99, Moli Mondal 2/40) by 19 runs

Opting to bat first Grey was reduced to 11/3 as Sukanya Parida picked two wickets early for the Orange team and Richa then showed her class to master match-saving innings.

Richa smashed 151 off 109 balls to help the Grey team finish on 298/9 while other batters failed to make much impact. Her innings were crafted with 22 fours and five gigantic sixes. Sukanya finished with 3 for 27. While chasing Orange team got off to a good start thanks to Dyuti Pal (29) and Brishti Majhi (41) but later Grey team bowlers did well to not keak many runs. Orange skipper Sukanya fought a lonely battle with 87-ball 99 but couldn’t save the match while Moli Mondal, Srija Ghosh and Riya Das bagged two wickets apiece.

Match 5.CAB ORANGE: 126/10 (Dyuti Paul 51, Sushmita Ganguly 2/12) lost to CAB GREEN: 128/6 (Rupa Dutta 36*, Ananya Halder 2/11) by 2 wickets

CAB Green bowlers did well to bundle out the Orange team for a paltry 126 runs and later chased it down losing 6 wickets. Titash Sadhu, Sushmita Ganguly, and Rupa Dutta bagged two wickets apiece while Dyuti Paul starred with the bat scoring 51 for the Orange team. Rupa stayed unbeaten on 36 and Titash made 27 to ensure the Green team’s victory.

Match 6.CAB MAROON: 120/10 (Tithi Das 55*, Punam Soni 3/20 ) lost to CAB GREY: 124/5 (Richa Ghosh 45, Jhumia Khatun 3/12) by 5 wickets

While Grey team bowlers Punam Soni bagged three wickets while Komal Jaiswal and Moli Mondal picked up two wickets apiece to bundle out Maroon for 124 runs. Tithi Das fought a lone battle with her unbeaten 55 for Maroon. While chasing Richa Ghosh stayed unbeaten on 45 along with Preeti Mondal’s 52-ball 35 to win the match comfortably while Jhumia Khatun took three wickets for the Maroon side.