Bengal women make semis

Kolkata: Bengal women did what their men’s counterpart failed as they made the semifinals of the Senior Women’s Twenty20 meet getting past Rajasthan by 18 runs in the quarterfinals at Alur, Karnataka, on Tuesday. Dhara Gajjar’s unbeaten 30 helped Bengal get 121 for seven after openers Mita Paul (21) and Deepti Sharma (20) provided a good start on being asked to bat first. Sukanya Parida struck early claiming two wickets in her second over, while Gour Sultana picked two more to restrict the rivals to 103 for five. Bengal will play Himachal Pradesh in the semifinal on Thursday.Brief scores: Bengal 121/7 in 20 ovs (M Paul 21, D Sharma 20, D Gujjar 30; S Kalal 3/27) Rajasthan 103/5 in 20 ovs (S Meena 28; S Parida 2/16, G Sultana 2/18). Bengal won by 18 runs.