Birthday girl Ira has a party at Brabourne

Mumbai: Ira Jadhav, a versatile all-rounder, put all her skills especially her batting, on display at the Brabourne Stadium on Monday to present herself a fantastic birthday gift. On her 14th birthday, Ira smashed 106 off 59 balls (13 fours, 1 six) to power Shardashram Vidyamandir English School, Dadar to an emphatic 67-run victory in the Manoramabai Aptle Inter-School Under-16 girls final against Parag English School, Bhandup. It was the second successive title and sixth overall for the defending champions in the tournament organised by Mumbai Schools Sports Association under the aegis of Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA).

Ira appeared to have drawn inspiration from the encouraging words of Padmashri, former India captain and women’s cricket legend, Diana Edulji, who tossed the coin and met both the finalists before the final.

The opener, who dominated the final, was quick to return to the field soon after her heroic knock and opened the attack for Shardashram. After rolling her arm over for three overs, she went on to don the wicketkeeper’s gloves showing her intent to remain in the thick of the action.

Already marked as a talented cricketer, Ira is the captain of the Mumbai under-15 team and also a member of the Mumbai Under-19 squad. The century in the final underlined her potential as a future star.

Once Shardashram had raised 165-6 in 20 overs, Parag English found the going tough and could only muster 98-5 in their 20 overs. Captain Tanisha Sharma (33) was the top scorer for the losing team.

Mrs Madhumati Lele-Shrivastava, President of the Cricket Club of India (CCI) and Member of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) Committee was the chief guest at the prize distribution function. Individual awards for best players of the final were sponsored by Victorious Endeavours and the girls were presented with Cricket kits and trophies by VE directors Dimple Joshi and Jaideep Marar.

The final was broadcast live by Fancode in association with PitchVision on their OTT Platform. Players of finals awards Best Batter: Ira Jadhav (Shardashram); Best Bowler: Madhura Dhadke (Shardashram); Best All Rounder: Laxmi Saroj (Parag) Tournament Awards Best Batter: Ira Jadhav (Shardarshram); Best Bowler: AvikaKharatmol (St Joseph’s HS, Bandra); Best Fielder: Prisha Devrukar (Shardashram)

Brief Scores:

Shardashram Vidyamandir English School, Dadar 165-6 in 20 overs (Ira
Jadhav 106, Mugdha Parte 26; Laxmi Saroj 2-30) defeated Parag English School, Bhandup
98-5 in 20 overs (Tanisha Sharma 33; Swara Jadhav 2-12) by 67 runs.