The dream run of Odisha in Senior Womens National T20 Cricket Tournament ended in a heart-break as they went down fighting to mighty Railways by 35 runs in the second semi-final at Lalbhai Contractor Stadium in Surat, Gujarat today.

Opting to bat after captain Sneh Rana won the toss, defending champions Railways rode on a half-century each by openers S Meghana and Nuzhat Parween and a 131-run partnership between the two to muster a healthy total of 159 for two.

Chasing 160 for victory, Odisha got off to a nice start with Madhuri Meheta and Kajal Jena putting on 60 runs for the opening wicket in seven overs. But the dismissal of the duo at the same total of 60, completely changed the course of the match as Odisha lost the momentum and were restricted to 124 for seven.

Madhuri top-scored with 35, while notable contributions of 29 and 24 came from the bats of Sushree Dibyadarshini and Kajal Jena respectively. Odisha suffered another blow as dependable batter Sarita Meher retired hurt after making 16.

Former Odisha allrounder Swagatika Rath and Tanuja P Kanwer picked up two wickets each for Railways. On their way to the semifinals, Odisha had won six matches in a row. Railway will meet Maharashtra in the final on May 4. Maharashtra beat Baroda by six wickets in the first semifinal earlier in the day.

Madhuri proved to be most consistent among Odisha batters, securing 10th position in the all-India list of most runs in batting with a total of 213 runs from seven innings at an average of 35.50. The 213 runs included two half-centuries and 66 not out as the highest.

SCORECARD:

RAILWAYS: S Meghana b Priyanka 84, Nuzhat Parween (wk) not out 55, D Hemalatha run out (Subhra) 7, Sneh Rana (c) not out 9; Extras (w-4) 4
Total (2 wkts; 20 overs) 159
Did Not Bat: Mona, Renuka K Singh, Swagatika Rath, Rajeshwari, K Anjali Sarvani, Tanuja P Kanwer, Poonam Yadav
Fall of Wickets: 1-131 (Meghana, 17.2 ov), 2-138 (Hemalatha, 17.6 ov)
Bowling (Overs, Runs, Wickets, Dots): Sujata Mallik 3-35-0-5, Rameswari Naik 3-14-0-9, Priyanka Priyadarshini 4-36-1-7, Rasanara Parwin 4-26-0-3, Madhusmita Behera 2-20-0-2, Sushree Dibyadarshini 4-28-0-7.

ODISHA: Madhuri Meheta c Poonam b Sneh 35, Kajal Jena c Rajeshwari b Poonam 24, Sushree Dibyadarshini b Swagatika 29, Subhra Nirjharini Swain b Tanuja 9, Pragyan P Mohanty (wk) b Tanuja 1, Sarita Meher Rt Hurt 16, Rasanara Parwin run out 2, Madhusmita Behera (c) not out 5, Priyanka Priyadarshini st Nuzhat b Swagatika 1; Extras (lb-1, w-1) 2
Total (7 wkts; 20 overs) 124
Did Not Bat: Rameswari Naik, Sujata Mallik
Fall of Wickets: 1-60 (Kajal, 6.6 ov), 2-60 (Madhuri, 7.1 ov), 3-78 (Subhra, 11.3 ov), 4-80 (Pragyan, 11.6 ov), 5-117 (Rasanara, 18.5 ov), 6-118 (Sushree, 19.1 ov), 7-124 (Priyanka, 19.6 ov)
Bowling (Overs, Runs, Wickets, Dots): Renuka K Singh 2-19-0-6, Swagatika Rath 4-23-2-13, Tanuja P Kanwer 4-25-2-8, Rajeshwari 3-22-0-8, Poonam Yadav 3-20-1-7, Sneh Rana 4-14-1-10.
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PHOTO: File image of Odisha opening batter Madhuri Meheta who emerged top scorer for her team in their semifinal match against Railways in Surat on 2 May 2022.