Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 26 Sept: Tehri Queens won the inaugural Women’s Uttarakhand Premier League (UPL) by defeating Haridwar Stars by seven wickets in the final. Megha Saini played a brilliant innings, scoring an unbeaten 67 runs and leading her team to a comfortable victory at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium.
Haridwar Stars batted first and scored 99 runs for nine wickets in their 20 overs. Openers Jyoti Giri (41) and Deepika Chand (11) gave the team a good start with a 49-run partnership. But after Deepika got out, Haridwar’s batting collapsed.
Shweta Verma (20) tried to hold the innings together but was run out. The rest of the team lost wickets quickly. Nisha Mishra and Sabhya took three wickets each for Tehri Queens, while Neelam Naresh Bhardwaj took two.
Chasing the target of 100, Tehri Queens reached it in just 11.5 overs with the loss of three wickets. Megha Saini’s powerful 67 runs included eight fours and three sixes. Her teammates Aarti Bhandari (7), Neelam Bhardwaj (13), Ankita Bisht (9), and Yashika Bounthiyal (1) supported her. For Haridwar Stars, Safina Aziz and Kalpana Verma took one wicket each.
Megha Saini was named ‘Player of the Match’ for her outstanding performance. During the closing ceremony, Geeta Dhami, wife of Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, presented trophies to Tehri Queens and runners-up Haridwar Stars.
Tehri Queens’ win shows their strong performance and reflects the growing popularity of women’s cricket in Uttarakhand.
