The Smriti Mandhana-led Trailblazers team went on to clinch the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge 2020, with their 16-run victory over two-time champions Supernovas, on Monday, at Sharjah.
Earlier, it was Harmanpreet Kaur’s Supernovas who won the toss and opted to bowl first. Captain Mandhana gave a flying start to her team in alliance with the hard-hitting Deandra Dottin (20). By the 12th over, the Trailblazers registered 71 runs before the departure of Dottin.
The stylish left-handed batter scored a fluent knock of 68, which came off just 49 balls. She entertained the viewers with five boundaries and three sixes during her innings, which came at a strike rate of almost 139.
However, it all changed after the departure of Trailblazers’ captain. From 101/1 in the 15th over, the women in Pink could only manage a total of 118/8 in their 20 overs. In the last five overs, Supernovas came back brilliantly into the game by picking seven wickets and conceded only 17 runs.
For the Supernovas, it was Radha Yadav who was instrumental during the phase. The left-arm spinner picked the first five-wicket haul in Women’s T20 Challenge. She scalped five wickets and conceded only 16 runs in her spell.
Batting second, the Supernovas were behind the eight-ball, right from the outset. The Supernova batters kept losing wickets at regular intervals. They struggled in a visibly sluggish surface on offer at Sharjah.
Salma Khatun (3/18) and Deepti Sharma (2/9)kept on choking the two-time winners with their effective spell of bowling.
Even captain Harmanpreet struggled to get going. She top-scored with her knock of 30 which came off 36 deliveries.
In the end, the Supernovas were left too much to do and the Trailblazers won the game by a comfortable margin of 16 runs.
Brief Scores:
Trailblazers 118/8 in 20 overs (Mandhana 69, Radha 5/16) beat Supernovas 102/7 in 20 overs (Kaur 30, Khatun 3/18) by 16 runs
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