Women’s T20 Challenge 2022, Supernovas vs Velocity: Laura Wolvaardt's 65, Deandra Dottin's 62 & 2-28 and Sophie Ecclestone's 2-28 are top three performances. Supernovas beat Velocity and win third trophy.
Brief Scores: Supernovas 165/7 (Dottin 62, Kaur 43, Deepti 2/20) beat Velocity 161/8 (Wolvaardt 65*, Alana King 3/32, Dottin 2/28, Ecclestone 2/28) by 4 runs
Player of the Match and Tournament: Deandra Dottin (100 runs & 4 wickets in three innings)
Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas, who had two trophies in their cabinet, clashed heads with Deepti Sharma-led Velocity, who were yet to win the title, at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on May 28 in the finals of Women’s T20 Challenge 2022.
In their last meeting, Velocity sailed to victory over Supernovas by a margin of seven wickets; however, the latter has a 2-1 lead over the former in the history of the tournament.
Velocity skipper Deepti Sharma won the toss and opted to bowl first on a batting paradise. Although they retained their same eleven, Supernovas left out Venkateshappa Chandu and Meghana Singh to bring in Mansi Joshi and Rashi Kanojiya.
Supernovas triumphed to get third trophy
Put in to bat first, Supernovas openers, Deandra Dottin and Priya Punia, began in a cautious manner before breaking jail to put on 46/0 in the powerplay with Dottin doing the most damage with 29* off 18 balls. Punia’s struggling innings came to an end before captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Dottin stitched up a 58-run partnership in 33 balls.
Dottin got out on 62 before Kaur followed the same road with 43 off 29 balls. Velocity smelled a good chance for restricting the opponents to a low score and they conceded only 5/34 in the last five overs. Supernovas were eventually restricted to 165/7 in 20 overs.
Chasing a high score, Velocity even after a speedy start, lost their way being restricted to 38/3 in the powerplay. They went in deep trouble losing five wickets for just 64 in 11 overs. Laura Wolvaardt was great for her unbeaten 65, before Simran Bahadur fired up with a 10-ball 20* in the end. But it was too late for them as Supernovas grabbed their third title with a win by a margin of just four runs.
Let’s scan the top performance from the finals between Supernovas and Velocity.
All-round performance from Dottin blew away Velocity
The destructive all-rounder from West Indies, Deandra Dottin, who is the first woman to score a T20I century during the World T20 game against South Africa, was in terrific form in this Women’s T20 Challenge competition; she scored a mind-blowing 32 in 17 balls in the opener against Trailblazers.
She began the final game in alert mode, before collecting her first boundary off Kate Cross in the third over. In the last over of the powerplay, she smacked Sneh Rana for two back-to-back sixes over cow corner and long-on region. After being dropped on 32, she cracked one more six to celebrate her half-century with a six, in just 33 balls.
Dottin, who has 2,681 Women’s T20I runs in 122 innings, put on a 58-run stand with Harmanpreet Kaur in just 33 balls, where she played second fiddle. Al last, with one boundary and four sixes, she was dismissed on 62 off 44 balls thanks to an attempt to play a funky shot off Deepti Sharma.
Dottin also picked up the wicket of Shafali Verma and Kate Cross to finish with figures of 2-28 in her four overs including a maiden.
Read More: Women’s T20 Challenge 2022: Meghana, Jemimah fifties help TBL win but not avoid elimination
Sophie Ecclestone broke Velocity in the powerplay
England’s left arm bowler, Sophie Ecclestone, who is the number one bowler in the ICC Women’s T20 ranking, was handed the job in just the second over where she was hit for 11 runs, defending 165.
Ecclestone made a good return in her second over, sending back Yastika Bhatia for 13 thanks to an easy caught & bowled dismissal. In her third and the last over of the powerplay, Ecclestone, who has 68 Women’s T20I wickets in just 49 innings, got rid of young Kiran Prabhu Navgire for a 13-ball duck to restrict Velocity to 38-3 after six overs.
Coming into a pressure cooker situation in the last over, defending just 17, she was hammered for a first-ball six; but she managed to keep her cool to help Supernovas clinch their third trophy. Ecclestone finished with 2-28 in her four overs.
Read More: Women’s T20 Challenge 2022: Shafali 51, Wolvaardt 51* win it for Velocity; Harman's 71 goes in vain
Laura Wolvaardt tried hard for her unbeaten 65 runs
South Africa batter Laura Wolvaardt is such a dynamic opening batter, who has 588 WT20I runs in 31 innings. The second youngest player to score a Women’s ODI hundred, had scored unbeaten 51 runs in 35 against Supernovas in the last affair.
Coming into the last over of the powerplay during a huge chase, Wolvaardt began slowly before hitting two boundaries off Puja Vastrakar to speed up. Even though wickets were falling from the other end, Laura was ticking the scoreboard with singles and doubles before few boundaries and a six off Alana King over the long-off fence.
Smashing another six over long-on region, she cracked her second fifty against Supernovas in this edition. The 23-year-old clubbed one more boundary and six over the mid-wicket region but failed to take her team to their maiden trophy. The Protea batter finished on unbeaten 65 off 40 balls, that consisted of five boundaries and three sixes.
Deepti Sharma (Losing captain): “If we had somehow built the partnerships in the middle overs, then we might have had a chance in the end. Even though the batters didn’t take responsibility, Laura and Simran played well. Those two had to swing their bats at everything having no other options. We did decently with the way the team has performed.”
Deandra Dottin (Player of the Match & Tournament): “It’s a brilliant feeling with so much good experience. I do learn something from different personalities and make some good bond. I was a bit shy earlier but the team made me feel comfortable and at home.”
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