da bet7k： For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau wonthe toss
Anand Vasu06-Apr-2000For the first time in the tournament Air India captain Purnima Rau wonthe toss. After the first innings was completed and Air India had221/4 on the board thanks to 71 from Purnima Rao and a classy unbeaten89 from south paw Anjum Chopra it was clear that the match was alsowon. In the end, the target proved to be overwhelmingly large andCentral Zone succumbed to a 152 run loss.Electing to bat first on a flat batting track at the AC Tech Groundshe took the crease with Anju Jain. The two have been the batswomen towatch all series and today was no exception. Central Zone openingbowlers were all at sea against the seasoned Air Indiacampaigners. Opening the bowling for Central Zone skipper Leena Muleyand Neetu Singh could not keep the run flow in check.Hitting the ball cleanly, the two batswomen got Air India off to astrong start. It was only a run out caused by a misunderstanding thatbroke the partnership. Anju Jain had 8 to her name in the fifth overwhen she was forced to run on a call that brought Purnima Rau to herend. Stranded by a good throw, Anju was run out.In came Anjum Chopra, another big name in women’s cricket inIndia. Before going in to bat, Anjum watched the game keenly from theconfines of the pavilion. When it was her turn to go in, a silentprayer with gloves in hand preambled what was an important entrance.Anjum and Purnima then took Air India from strength to strength toyingwith the Central Zone bowling. Purnima was the aggressor of the two,lifting the ball over the infield with regularity. Never hesitatingto play across the line, Purnima gave a fair few half chances in herinnings. However, Central Zone did not take the chances they weregiven and paid dearly.At the other end Anjum was in fine nick. Playing dead straight, shegave no chances at all. Coming down the wicket to the spinners Anjumstroked the ball effortlessly through the off side. When the ball wason her pads she walked neatly across and tucked it away to the onside.After helping herself to 71 runs, Purnima chanced her arm once toomany times and ended up holing out to long on. Her wicket fell withthe score on 127. By then Air India were in too strong a position forthe dismissal to have any serious impact on the scoring rate.Anjum brought up her fifty by clouting a full toss for a one bounceboundary through mid wicket. She was kept good company by Mithali Raj.Mithali was bowled in the 41st over when she played down the wrongline to an off spinner from Bindeshwari Goyal. Mithali had made 8 inher stay at the crease.Mithali was replaced by Smita Harikrishna. At this late stage of theinnings, it was well set Anjum who made the difference. An accumulaterof runs rather than a big hitter, Anjum played sensibly throughout theAir India innings. With three overs left and Anjum on 81 messages fromthe Air India dressing room went out to Chopra informing her of herproximity to the three figure mark. Putting a premium on her wicket,she batted out the full 50 overs and ended unbeaten on 89. Anjum’schanceless innings dominated the Central Zone team completely. In alllikelihood, it also put the match well past Central Zone.Air India posted the first 200 plus total of the tournament.The match was over before Central Zone began their reply. 222 was toolarge a total for Central Zone to chase, especially against a solidside like Air India.The Central Zone openers Neetu Singh and Priyanka Shally livened upthe proceedings with a couple of good hits. However, after Centralwere reduced to 43/6 in the 20th over there was no looking back. AirIndia coasted to an easy 152 run victory.This triumph Air India pick up 8 points from their fourencounters. Tomorrow they take on West Zone. Unless West can conjuresomething special, Air India will head unchallenged to their big matchagainst Indian Railways on the 8th.