VLC vs SPN Match Summary:
Supernovas 165/7
Velocity (20 overs, T:166) 161/8
Supernovas won by 4 runs
The adjectives that describe today’s match best would be thrillings, exciting, captivating, allround, and wholesome. The final of the Women’s T20 Challenge was one of the most incredible matches in the history of the league. Chasing the highest ever total in the finals of the tournament Velocity had a fiery start where they hit 28 runs in the first 2 overs. As soon as Shafali got out in the first over, Velocity trail also got lost. Dotting and Ecclestone stole the game from them as they completely restricted the opponent’s batting. The team could only add up to ten more runs in the next 4 overs as their score was 38 for 3 at the end of the powerplay. From there on the pace of the score was as slow as it could get which pressured the batters at the crease and bowlers lured them into hitting mistimed shots. Soon the wickets went down with not much addition to the scoreboard.
By the end of Strategic Timeout at the 13th over, Velocity could only score 75 runs but lost 5 wickets which was a big disappointment. It was Laura Wolvaardt who stemmed herself at the crease and changed the gear of her innings as she went on to take charge. Even though wickets kept falling at the opposite end but Wolvaardt kept on scoring at her pace and kept the scoreboard ticking, Things became more interesting as she started hitting in the death overs where Velocity needed 34 runs from the last 2 overs. In the 19th over, she hit 4 fours and scored 17 runs making it a 17-run chase in the last over. Even after hitting a six on the first ball, the batter could not make her team win as they decided to rotate the strike and lost the match by 4 runs.
The credit must go to Supernova bowlers who kept their nerves even after being hit for boundaries early on in the match and even in the death overs where it looked like Wolvaardt might just steal the game away from them. Dottin showed an all-round performance as she scored 62 off 44 and also took 2 wickets giving away just 28 runs. Also, credit to Ecclestone and Alana King who took wickets at crucial times and stole game away from Velocity who looked very confident. Harmanpreet Kaur must be appreciated for her captaincy as they never lost nerves once during the match and regulated her bowlers wisely.
It was a match of a dream and we are sure many games like this will definitely help women’s cricket in gaining popularity.
The losing Captain Deepti Sharma talked about today’s loss as she said, “If we had built a partnership in the middle overs, it wouldn’t have come down to the final delivery. Laura [Wolvaardt] batted well and so did Simran. We had the batting strength to win the game the way we played the last two games. We just said, “See the ball, hit the ball” We performed well but we left some runs out in the middle. The bowlers did well to pull it back after the 16th over.”
Captain cool Harmanpreet Kaur talked about victory of her team and credited the team for the special effort as she said “My heartbeat was normal. I was prepared for the game to go down to the wire. The start wasn’t on our favour. We knew it was a matter of two wickets. We got that as we stuck to our plans. [On the final ten minutes] Pooja couldn’t quite execute what we planned to. The crowd was going ballistic and that also might have played a part. Sophie bowled outstandingly well”
Player of the Match and Player of the Series Awards were presented to Drandra Dottin who stole the game whenever she was on the field. She has been the key player for Supernova’s success this tournament and must be rewarded for her hardwork. She kept her message short and sweet as she said “It feels good to be a part of this tournament. You learn from other players in the tournament. It was good for me and we all gel well.”
PLAYER OF THE MATCH: DAENDRA DOTTIN
PLAYER OF THE SERIES: DAENDRA DOTTIN
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