Chetna Pagydyala is now the owner of the highest scores for USA Women in both ODIs and T20Is after her 81 not out off 61 balls during USA's 53-run win over Vanuatu broke the previous mark of 74 not out held by Sindhu Sriharsha. 

File photo credit: Peter Della Penna

By Peter Della Penna (Twitter/X @PeterDellaPenna)

Teenage opener Chetna Pagydyala gave a handy reminder of the old adage, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish” by turning an early crawl to 4 off 15 balls after eight overs into a USA Women’s T20I record score of 81 not out off 61 balls by the end of USA’s innings to lay the platform for a comfortable 53-run win over Vanuatu at the inaugural ICC Women’s Challenge Trophy in Rwanda. The 17-year-old left-hander hit nine fours and her first two career sixes for USA during an impressive acceleration to take USA to 153 for 6, which wound up being well out of reach for a thin Vanuatu lineup that was bowled out for 100 in reply. 
 
USA won the toss and chose to bat first, making one change from their loss to Rwanda by swapping out medium pacer Lekha Shetty for Suhani Thadani. USA’s top order got off to a sluggish start on a different pitch from the loss to Rwanda 24 hours earlier as the tournament shifted to the nursery ground outside of Gahanga International Stadium for match day four of the tournament. 
 
Sainavi Kambalapalli was the first to go, skying a slog against Vanessa Vira that popped up in the air for a catch by the bowler after avoiding a near collision with a fielder approaching from cover to make it 4 for 1 in the third. Isani Vaghela played aggressively after entering at No. 3, repeatedly charging down the wicket to hit three boundaries before she fell attempting another charge as a knee high full toss was shoveled gently to mid-off for 16 as Vira took her second to make it 23 for 2 after five overs. Pooja Ganesh played a dicey shot across the line on a pitch in which the bounce was staying low and paid the price as she was struck on the pads and given lbw for 2 in the eighth off the pace bowling of Vanuatu captain Rachel Andrew to make it 28 for 3. Gargi Bhogle came and went quickly, unable to keep out a yorker from Natalia Kakor as USA sat on shaky ground at 50 for 4 at the halfway point of the innings. 
 
But USA added 103 off the final 10 overs, the majority of which came off the bat of Pagydyala. A boundary driven through mid-on against Susan Stephen midway through the ninth over doubled her score and finally got her innings going after a difficult grind to that stage. Having had 12 dot balls in her first 15 deliveries, she only managed 12 further dot balls over her final 46 balls in the middle while finding the boundary once per over from the 11^th through the 15^th. Her partnership with Ritu Singh ended in the 15^th when Singh sliced an attempted drive to short third for 8 to make it 87 for 5. 
 
By this point, Pagydyala had breezed past her previous career-best of 36 not out and brought up her maiden T20I half-century off 48 balls with a two in the 18^th over against Nasimana Navaika. She then exploded in the final two overs, hitting 29 of USA’s final 33 runs in the sequence with three of the other four runs coming off of wides. Taking on Selina Solman in the 19^th, Pagydyala drove a full delivery over long-on for her first career six. Later in the over, she lofted Solman inside out over extra cover for four before flicking the next ball over square leg for another boundary. A 49-run partnership with USA captain Aditi Chudasama ended when Pagydyala hit the last ball of the 19^th to midwicket and set off on contact looking to keep strike but a throw from Stephen to wicketkeeper Mahina Tarimiala was in time to get Chudasama. 
 
However, Pagydyala still started the final over on strike with new batter Jivana Aras never facing a ball. After two wides, Pagydyala launched Andrew for six over wide long on, then collected four separate twos over the remainder of a 17-run over to take her to her final score of 81 not out. The first of those twos took her to 75, eclipsing the previous USA Women’s T20I best of 74 not out off 71 balls against Bangladesh from former captain Sindhu Sriharsha at the 2022 ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Qualifier in the UAE. 
 
Vira had the best figures and best economy for Vanuatu on the day, taking 2 for 15 off four. Kakor ended with 1 for 11 off two while Andrew and Navaika both had their figures spoiled in expensive final overs to end with 1 for 27 and 1 for 29 respectively off three overs apiece. Melissa Fare was the least economical bowler on the day for Vanuatu, struggling with her control to send down five wides and a no ball in a 12-run 16^th over. 
 
Maahi Madhavan, who turned 17 over the weekend, continued her impressive tour by striking with the third ball of the chase, beating Andrew for pace on an attempted drive to bowl the Vanuatu captain for a duck. Aras should have equaled her new-ball pace bowling partners in the second over, but a shin high edged chance at slip was grassed by Taranum Chopra off new batter Navaika on 4. The drop wound up not costing USA and runs however as Chudasama came on in the fourth over and trapped Navaika on the back leg with her first ball of the day to win an lbw decision making it 15 for 2. 
 
Solman joined opener Valenta Langiatu and the pair produced Vanuatu’s highest partnership of the day, adding 30 runs for the third wicket. The stand could have been nipped in the bud with Solman on 2 in the fifth over, but a loopy chance that was sliced over cover off the bowling of Singh was spilled by Thadani running back from the edge of the ring. Solman rubbed salt into the wound in the following over by cracking two boundaries off Chudasama before Langiatu hit her stride in the seventh when she heaved Singh for six over deep midwicket in a 12-run over to take the score to 41 for 2. 
 
Langiatu appeared to get carried away after this burst as she charged down the wicket to the very first ball she saw from legspinner Kambalapalli and missed badly to be bowled for 24 at 45 for 3. Solman had a brief burst in the 10^th, hitting Aras for two fours in a 13-run over to take Vanuatu to 60 for 3 at the halfway point of the chase, a much better position than USA had been at the same stage. But unlike USA, Vanuatu struggled in their final 10 overs, adding just 40 runs before being bowled out as they could not decipher the spin duo of Kambalapalli and Chudasama. 
 
It was a runout that sparked Vanuatu’s ultimate collapse however as Solman tried a tap and run single straight to midwicket in the 12^th that was denied by Chopra. The 19-year-old fielded and relayed to Ganesh over the stumps at the striker’s end in plenty of time to dismiss Stephen for 3 making it 64 for 4. Chopra was rewarded for her fielding by coming into the attack for the first time in the following over. She could have had Vira out for 1, but Thadani dropped her second chance of the day at mid-off before Chopra created a second chance a few balls later that was held by Vaghela at point to dismiss Vira for 5 at 74 for 5. 
 
Kambalapalli returned to the attack in place of Chopra for the 15^th and produced a double-wicket maiden to reduce Vanuatu to 81 for 7, dismissing both of the Chilia sisters. Gillian went first for 5, yanking a catch to Chudasama at midwicket. Alvina fell two balls later when she slapped a low full toss back to Kambalapalli’s left where the bowler lunged sideways to take a knee height catch.
 
Chudasama then brought herself back on in the 18^th to claim the final three wickets. Solman’s vigil ended for a run a ball 40 when she charged down the pitch and missed a wild heave to be stumped. Fare made it into the final over before she miscued a shot toward Thadani at cover, who this time held onto a basic chance to put Vanuatu nine down with one ball remaining in their 20 overs. Kakor arrived as Vanuatu’s last batter and attacked the last ball of play, skying a catch to Madhavan at extra cover for the final wicket. 
 
Chudasama’s handling of the tail meant she ended with 4 for 15, the second time she has taken four wickets in her T20I career. Kambalapalli took 3 for 9 off her four overs. Chopra claimed 1 for 8 off two overs while Madhavan returned 1 for 18 off three. Aras (0 for 16 off two) and Singh (0 for 19 off three) both had chances missed off their bowling which harmed their figures while Thadani was also wicketless with 0 for 13 off two overs. 
 
The result took USA to the top of the points table, equal with Italy, Rwanda and Nepal on four points but with a vastly superior net run rate to the other three teams. Nepal squeaked out a two-wicket win over Rwanda earlier in the day as the hosts nearly produced a dramatic turnaround defending a total of 88 in which Nepal’s opening pair added 51 before the rest of the lineup imploded. Needing three runs to win off three overs with four wickets in hand, Rwanda’s bowling unit produced consecutive wicket-maidens in the 18^th and 19^th overs before Rachana Chadhary scored a two to level the scores two balls into the final over before hitting the winning single with two balls to spare. 
 
All teams have a rest day on Thursday before play resumes on Friday with USA taking on Italy, who had a bye on Wednesday.