BENGALURU: Bengal were 20/2 after four overs. The match had been reduced to 13 overs per side owing to the rain interruption earlier. With the constant threat of rain looming, Himachal Pradesh needed to complete the mandatory five overs to force a result. If the match had been called off, Bengal would have advanced to the final of the ongoing Senior Women's T20 Trophy based on the number of wins in the group stages.
Thursday was a typical monsoon day in Bengaluru. Through the course of the day, there were passing showers over M Chinnaswamy stadium, but the play continued thanks to the advanced drainage system at the venue. That said, once the game between Bengal and Himachal was reduced, another rain break meant the play was doubtful. This is why, getting the six balls of the fifth over through was crucial for Harleen Deol & Co.
They had eight runs to defend the VJD par score for the fifth over and with every wicket, it would only go up. And Nikita Chauhan started off with one as she dismissed Kashish Agarwal. They still had to get through the next five balls. The drizzle had already started. In came Richa Ghosh at No. 5. Two singles followed. Bengal were 22/3 in 4.3 overs and they weren't sure how much they needed after the wicket fell.
Richa would gesture from the middle to the dugout, asking how many runs were required. Once it seemed clear that they had to finish with 33/3, she took her time to take guard and dispatched Nikita into the midwicket stands. While it took a minute or two to get the ball back, the equation was down to five off two. Richa took a single and it was four needed off one. Meanwhile, it started pouring down. Nikita was at the top of her mark ready to complete the delivery. But Dhara Gujjar was at the sides, taking her own time to get back to her guard even as the umpires were trying to complete the over.
A few seconds passed by, and Gujjar slowly moved towards her crease but at this point, the showers had gotten too heavy, forcing the umpires to bring on the covers. From the cusp of making their maiden appearance in the senior T20 trophy final, Himachal were out of the tournament by the barest of margins — they got eliminated even though they did not lose the semifinal. That they were burnt by two washed-out matches in the group stages meant they did not have as many wins as Bengal.
"I can't tell you how disheartening it is," Harleen said after the match. "We just wanted to bowl for five overs. If one more ball was bowled, we would have won the match. Our bowler was here (on her run-up), but then they said 'no, no, no', what to do. The batter wasn't ready, probably they knew that they were ahead," she added with a wry smile.
It would have been a fairytale finish for Himachal as just a few hours ago, the men's side had reached the final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. This season, the Himachal women and Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association had done everything they could to play their best cricket. They had several camps than they generally do, they travelled to play practice matches, and they dominated through the group stages as well in the matches they got to play.
"I hate this word, but it's nothing but hard luck. The association trusted us, they wanted me to take over the charge to see how things are going and give them a path so the youngsters can go through. And they have done it. Whatever happened is God's plan, but we have a lot of positives to take home," Harleen signed off.
Brief scores: Himachal 79/4 in 13 ovs (Nikita 30 n.o) vs Bengal 29/3 in 4.5 ovs (Deepti 11) (No result, Bengal qualified based on no. of wins in group stages); Vidarbha 87/8 in 20 ovs (Fulmali 20; Rana 3/19) lost to Railways 88/1 in 15.4 ovs (Nuzhat 44 n.o).