Madhya Pradesh wins Senior Women's ODI Cup for the first time after defeating Bengal

Madhya Pradesh defeated Bengal by seven wickets in the final of the Senior Women's One Day Cup 2024 to lift the maiden trophy at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Monday.

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Despite playing well in the whole tournament, Bengal batters couldn't maintain the rhythm in the Senior Women's One Day Cup final. This is Bengal's back to back losses in the final. 

Bengal batters collapsed 

Madhya Pradesh won the toss and elected to field first. In the last few matches, the Bengali team chased and scored big runs easily. But on this day, Bengal lost the pair of openers when they came to bat first. Two in-form batsmen Dhara Gujjar scored 0 runs and Sasthi Mondal returned to the pavilion for just 5 runs.

After that, Bengal's star batsman Richa Ghosh came to the field. But she got out after playing only 1 ball and returned to dressing room. Then Tanusree Sarkar scored a fighting 21 (29) runs. Mita Pal, who took the attention in the previous match, scored 25 (45) runs.

Priyanka Bala took Bengal to a respectable score

Priyanka Bala came down and fought a lot. She took Bengal to a respectable score. Bengal's run reached 136 runs courtesy of her 42-run innings. Bengal team was all out in 38.2 overs. 

Madhya Pradesh's bowler Kranti Gaud bowled amazingly and took four wickets. He gave only 25 runs in 9 overs. In the end, he was selected as the man of the match.

Also Read: Vijay Hazare Trophy 2024: Bengal vs Baroda match report | Bengal beats Baroda by 7 wickets; Anustup misses century by 1 run

Anushka Sharma played match winning innings

In reply, the Madhya Pradesh team chased down the required runs to win after losing three wickets in just 34.4 overs. Opener Anushka Sharma scored an unbeaten 69 (102) runs. Apart from her, Ananya Dubey scored 27 (63) runs and Aayushi Shukla remained unbeaten at 30. 

Pacer Titas Sadhu, who returned from the Indian team, took all three wickets for Bengal. 

Looking at the strength, the Bengal team was the favourite, but a bad day took them away from the trophy.