All-round Deandra Dottin powers Supernovas to third Women’s T20 Challenge title, heartbreak for Velocity

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 28 (ANI): Brilliant knocks by Deandra Dottin and Harmanpreet Kaur were backed by a clinical effort by bowlers as Supernovas defeated Velocity by 4 runs in a thrilling final to claim the Women’s T20 Challenge crown at MCA Stadium here on Saturday.
This is the third Women’s T20 Challenge title for Supernovas while Velocity will have to wait further for their first-ever title. The thrilling encounter was settled in the final over as Velocity picked up momentum towards the later half of the innings after suffering some initial blows.
Batting first, Dottin scored 62 off 44 balls while Harmanpreet smashed 43 to guide their side to 165/7. For Velocity, Simran Bahadur, Kate Cross and Deepti Sharma scalped two wickets each.
Laura Wolvaardt and Simran Bahadur remained unbeaten on 65 and 20 respectively for Velocity. While Alana King scalped three wickets, Sophie Ecclestone and Dottin took two apiece.
Chasing 166, Velocity had a bad start as their score read 38/3 after the first six overs. Deandra Dottin gave Supernovas the breakthrough in the third over after she removed Shafali Verma.
In the next over, Sophie Ecclestone got the wicket of Yastika Bhatia to put Velocity in more trouble. Dottin bowled a superb maiden 5th over before Ecclestone struck again in the last over of the powerplay to remove last game half-centurion K P Navgire on a 13-ball duck.
In the 9th over, Pooja Vastrakar piled more misery on Velocity as Natthakan Chantham was trapped in front of wickets for LBW. 105 runs were needed from the last half of the innings.
Half of the Velocity was back into the pavilion in the 11th over after Alana King dismissed skipper Deepti Sharma.
With the chase going downhill, Laura Wolvaardt took matters into her own hands as she continued playing aggressively. 100 run mark was up for Velocity in the 16th over after Wolvaardt smashed a glorious six off Alana King. But King responded brilliantly with back-to-back wickets in the same over. Aussie spinner removed Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav on consecutive deliveries.
In the 17th over Kathryn Laura Cross smashed back-to-back boundaries to add some life to Velocity’s chase before departing on the second last ball of the over.
Wolvaardt brought up her fifty in the 18th over as the equation was down to 34 off 12. The penultimate over produced 17 runs after Simran Bahadur smashed a hat-trick of boundaries.
Seventeen runs were needed in the last over and Sophie Eccleston did concede a six on the very first ball but the experienced pacer held her nerves to see the final through for Supernovas.
Earlier, put to bat first, Supernovas had a brilliant start as their openers Deandra Dottin and Priya Punia hammered Velocity bowlers all around the ground and gathered 73 runs in under 10 overs.
Dottin was in fine form as she smashed Sneh Rana for two consecutive sixes, snatching 15 runs. Velocity finally took a sigh of relief as Simran Bahadur gave her team a much-needed breakthrough by removing Priya Punia for 28 runs.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then came to the crease to anchor the innings with Dottin who was playing an aggressive game.
Dottin brought up her half-century off 33 balls in the 11th over of the innings. Dottin and Harmanpreet took their team’s total beyond the 100-run mark in the 12th over. Harmanpreet also shifted gear and started hitting boundaries and sixes and the duo stitched out a 58 runs partnership.
Velocity skipper Deepti Sharma removed Dottin for 66 runs leaving the team’s score at 131-2. Pooja Vastrakar came to bat next. Ayabonga Khaka delivered a fantastic ball and bowled out Vastrakar in the 17th over. In the next over, Kate Cross stuck two blows to dismiss Harmanpreet and Sophie Ecclestone.
Supernovas lost half their team by the 17th over. Deepti Sharma bagged her second wicket of the innings as she dismissed Sune Luus, who was caught by Radha Yadav in the 19th over.
In the 20th over, Simran Bahadur dismissed Harleen Deol and Supernovas ended at 165/7.
Brief scores: Supernovas 165/7 (Deandra Dottin 62, Harmanpreet Kaur 43, Deepti Sharma 2-20) vs Velocity 161/8 (Laura Wolvaardt 65*, Simran Bahadur 20*; Alana King 3-32). (ANI)