Shafali Verma takes hat-trick for Haryana in Women's U23 One-day Trophy

Shafali Verma, Niki Prasad, Kanika Ahuja, Nandini Kashyap and Mannat Kashyap among others were in action in the pre-quarterfinals of the?Women's U23 One-day Trophy, two days after the WPL final. Verma and Prasad played the final for the Delhi Capitals and were straight into their work for their state teams head-to-head for Haryana and Karnataka, respectively. Leading Haryana, Shafali couldn't fire with the bat but made an impact with the ball, taking a hat-trick and played a crucial role in her team winning the game and progressing through to the quarters.

At 188/4 with a little over six overs left, Karnataka would have fancied their chance to get to a score of 230-240 with six wickets left. However, Shafali ended up dismissing Saloni P, Soumya Verma and Namita D'Souza on 43.5, 43.6 and 45.1 and pegged Karnataka back to completely snatch the momentum.

Shafali, who has tried her hand in international cricket on a handful of occasions, didn't bowl a single delivery in the WPL but was successful bowling for Haryana in the?pre-quarterfinal.?

Ananya Hegde and Srinithi P Rai scored a boundary or two but 217 was always going to be a tough total to defend. Even though Verma failed to replicate her WPL heroics with the bat in the PQF, Sonia Mehndiya and Tanisha Ohlan stood strong with their respective fifties to take Haryana over the line. Haryana were three down before the 15th over but Mehndiya with a steady 66 and Ohlan with an unbeaten run-a-ball 77 proved to be too good for the Karnataka bowlers.

Haryana will take on Madhya Pradesh in the quarterfinal. In the other PQF, Uttarakhand beat Punjab to set up a quarterfinal date with Mumbai.?

Delhi will take on Baroda in the third pre-quarterfinal while Uttar Pradesh will be up against Rajasthan in the fourth and final.