~ The inter-school competition for U19 girls was won by Central Public School from Udaipur as they beat Maa Bharti Institute Talwandi from Kota in the final held in Jaipur on Friday evening ~
Jaipur, 21 October 2023: One of the biggest cricket competitions for U19 girls in the state, the Rajasthan Royals Cricket Cup 2023, came to an end on Friday evening as Udaipur's Central Public School defeated Kota's Maa Bharti Institute Talwandi by 10 wickets in an entertaining final held here at the PS Sports Excellence Arena in Jaipur. Having won the toss, Central Public School elected to field first, and restricted Kota's Maa Bharti Institute to 76-4 in their 10 overs. In reply, Udaipur's openers Kashish and Priyanshi scored 37 runs each to reach the target in 6.3 overs and secure the title for their school in the presence of Royals' star players Yashasvi Jaiswal and KC Cariappa, along with the franchise's Chief Executive Officer Jake Lush McCrum and women's rights activist and social worker Ruma Devi.
Central Public School's 16-year-old Priyanshi was the star of the competition with both bat and ball, as she was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for her 92 runs and 3 wickets. She also won the award for the most sixes. Meanwhile, Maa Bharti Institute's Pratiksha Singh was awarded the Pink Cap for the most runs (92) in the competition, and Central Public School's Himali won the Blue Cap for most wickets (9). Barmer's Government Senior Secondary School Pandravali was given the Fair Play Award for displaying sporting values.
Earlier in the day, Udaipur's Central Public School had defeated Jaipur's Madho Nagar Public Senior Secondary School in a thrilling Super Over to make it to the final. In the other semifinal, Kota's Maa Bharti Institute beat Barmer's Government Senior Secondary School Pandravali by 6 runs.
A total of 87 boundaries were scored during the two-day final leg held in the city, which enabled the Royals to equip and light up 87 houses in the Sambhar block with solar panels through their social equity arm, the Royal Rajasthan Foundation. The first day of the final leg also saw women beneficiaries from the Foundation also play an exhibition match at the start of play.
The competition was organized across the state with the aim of making cricket more inclusive and accessible to the talented girl cricketers in Rajasthan, given the introduction of an innovative soft pink ball which enabled more girls to play the sport at a starting level.
The franchise also revealed that it will be launching a Rajasthan Royals Academy in Jaipur at the same venue early next year.
More information about the tournament is available here.
