After Sooryavanshi, Akshara rises from Bihar with 306*

Akshara Gupta

Is there something in Bihar's water? For, after the dashing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, another teen star, Akshara Gupta has emerged from the state. Akshara, 15, hammered a blistering triple hundred - 306 not out - for Team ‘A' against Team ‘C' in a Bihar Cricket Association Women's U-19 One-Day Trophy match at the Sandis Compound Ground in Bhagalpur on Thursday.

A Class X student of Duncan Academy, Akshara achieved the feat in just 126 balls, at a strike rate of 242.86, hammering 55 fours and eight sixes. She needed just 16 balls to reach her half-century and got to her 100 in only 34 deliveries. Akshara's journey is nothing short of inspirational, considering there are no cricket facilities in her home town.

"There are no cricket facilities in our village, so we [family members and neighbours] prepared a concrete wicket near our home and Akshara has been practicing on it with her brother [Rishi] and his friends from the age of six. We are very excited about her journey, but never expected a triple hundred. She is the first woman cricketer from our village," Akshara's uncle, Ramkripa Gupta told mid-day. Akshara's father Rajkishor Gupta runs a chicken business while mum Rina, is a homemaker.