Sunday afternoon saw us arrive in Biratnagar from the nature reserve and allowed us time to get to the culmination of Biratnagar inter school girls competition. First impressions were that the ground was enormous, with two pitches prepared but room for far more. Just one year ago the ground was opened by MCCF and named appropriately, given MCCF’s kind funding.
We saw the end of the previous match, but the final was the crowd puller, with Saraswati taking on Balika. Sariswati’s batting was hugely impressive and it was clear the girls had been very well coached – their stance and set ups were immaculate. On a large ground and 22 yard wicket, one of the Sariswati openers made over 70, many of those in 2s, and she was exhausted when eventually out, despite the regular sending out of water. A score of 134 in 20 overs seemed imposing.
And so it proved when Balika batted. Where as some of the girls from Balika struggled to bowl with a straight arm (22 yards being too far for them really), the Sariswati bowlers had great actions and great accuracy. The Balika batters struggled throughout and stuttered up to 59.
At the fall of the ninth wicket, Sariswati celebrated joyfully, pulling the stumps apart and charging around the ground. Comedy followed when they were told they’d celebrated a wicket too early, the stumps being hastily reassembled only for the 10th wicket to fall the very next ball meaning an action replay of the previous celebration!
The (female) Deputy Mayor gave plenty of her time to talk to the girls and give out the awards and it was clear to see how much all the girls that competed had enjoyed the tournament.
A thoroughly deserved win for Sariswati and it will be interesting to see how far some of those girls get with their cricket.
Be First to Comment