Four fifties, five tons in six weeks: Out-of-favour India batter continues prolific form with century in three-day game

Priya Punia continues her amazing run

Preeti Bose (5-21 in 25.4 overs) had led the rout for North Zone as North East Zone were bowled out for 102 after 90.4 overs of batting. During this attritional batting phase, every North Zone bowler who bowled at least 10 overs went for 1.10 or fewer in an over. For North East, RV Kalpana (27) and wicketkeeper Najmeen Khatun (22) were the only ones to put up any resistance.

Opening batting, Punia then outscored North East on her own with a 250-ball 119, adding 77 and 90 for the first two wickets respectively with Pragya Rawat (31) and Tanisha Singh (61). North East captain Devasmita Dutta (4-90) and Niruta Thoudam (6-74) hit back, but North still stretched their lead to 199.

At the time of writing, North East were 24-2 in their second innings after 26.2 overs of batting. Not having bowled in the first innings, Punia struck with her second ball in the second, ending Kalpana’s 62-ball vigil on three runs.

The hundred was Punia’s fifth century in 14 innings (she has four other fifties) since the start of February 2026.

Priya Punia in 2026

Priya Punia’s international career

Punia made her ODI and T20I debuts in 2019. She had three ordinary outings in the shortest format, and has not played since that year. She was in the T20 fold until 2024, when she toured Australia with India A to play in the format. She is yet to play in the WPL, though she played eight times in its predecessor, the Women’s T20 Challenge.

However, she did make intermittent appearances in ODIs since her unbeaten 75 on debut against South Africa, for which she was named the Player of the Match. From 12 ODIs until 2024, she has 273 runs at 27.30 while striking at 57.