Left-arm spinner Ekta Bisht dazzled in ongoing Senior Women's T20 Trophy encounter between Uttarakhand and Jharkhand with record-breaking seven-wicket haul. Uttarakhand skipper Ekta single-handedly changed the game in her quota of four overs to help his side win by a small margin of 10 runs.
The left-arm spinner took her first wicket in the 13th over. Then, she got the crucial wicket of AA Patil (23) who was anchoring the run chase. She took another wicket of Monika in the over to push Jharkhand on the back foot.
In the penultimate over, Ekta struck four times to turn the game on its head. She conceded just eight runs from her quota of four overs and bowled a total of 19 dots. From 93/5 they went ton 94/9. Her spell helped Uttarakhand wrap up Jharkhard's run chase for 97 with three balls left in the innings.
Only pacer Mansi Joshi was expensive while defending 108. Mansi conceded 38 runs from her quota of four overs whereas other bowlers kept the pressure on.
Earlier Uttarakhand managed to post 107/6 in the first innings despite both their openers getting out for respective golden ducks. Neelam and Punam Raut scored 30 and 41 respectively to get Uttarakhand past 100.
35-year-old Ekta played her last T20I in March 2019 against England where she conceded 32 runs and picked up the wicket of skipper Heather Knight.
In the ODI format, her last appearance was against New Zealand in February 2022. She went for 62 runs in her quota of 10 overs and took the wicket of lower-order White Ferns' batter Lea Tahuhu.
She has represented India in one Test, 63 ODIs and 42 T20Is. She has taken 98 wickets in ODIs at an average of 21.83 with best bowling figures of 5/8. In the T20Is, she has 53 wickets to her name at an average of 14.71 and best bowling figures of 4/21.
In the current T20I setup, India have two left-arm spinners in Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Radha Yadav. However, an exceptional performance would have put her in selectors’ radar.
