Trailblazers pulled off a thrilling two-run win over the Supernovas in the opening match of Women’s T20 Challenge in Jaipur on Monday. With 19 runs needed off the last over, Supernovas skipper Harmanpreet Kaur almost won the game for her side, smashing with three boundaries. However, veteran Jhulan Goswami held her nerve and with three needed off the last ball she conceded just one.
Trailblazers pulled off a thrilling two-run win over the Supernovas in the opening match of Women’s T20 Challenge in Jaipur on Monday. With 19 runs needed off the last over, Supernovas skipper Harmanpreet Kaur almost won the game for her side, smashing with three boundaries. However, veteran Jhulan Goswami held her nerve and with three needed off the last ball she conceded just one.
Toss: Supernovas won the toss and elected to field first.
First innings: Batting first, Suzie Bates departed early. But skipper Smriti Mandhana steadied the ship with Harleen Deol. Supernovas were tight with their line and lengths and did not bowl many loose deliveries in the powerplay and conceded just 25 runs. Halfway through the innings, the scoreboard read 52/1 and from this point, Mandhan and Deol started to accelerate.
Together they stitched a partnership of 119 for the second wicket, as Deol took a backseat, Mandhana took on the bowlers. Towards the end, Trailblazers lost wickets cheaply but Mandhana’s brilliant 90 off 67 balls took them to a score of 140/ 5 in 20 overs. Radha Yadav was the pick of the bowlers as she took 2 wickets whereas Anupa Patil and Sophie Devine took one each. Patil was economical with just 12 runs in her four-over spell.
Second innings: Similar to Trailblazers, Supernovas got off to a poor start, losing Priya Punia with six runs on the board. Sri Lankan batter Chamari Athapaththu and Jemimah Rodrigues tried to rebuild the innings. But Windies bowler Shakera Selman put an end to Rodrigues’ innings with a spectacular direct hit in 8th over. Athapaththu lost her wicket in the 11th over. Rajeshwari Gayakwad was handy with two wickets in middle overs.
It was Kaur who tried to keep the run chase alive with some lusty blows and assistance from Sophie Devine. Harmanpreet and New Zealander Sophie Devine (32 off 22) took the game deep with a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket. 19 were needed off the final over, but Kaur (46 not out off 34) failed to finish the job as Goswami conceded 17 runs.
Game Changer: Sophie Ecclestone’s brilliant penultimate over turned the game in favour of the Trailblazers. It was her economical over (2 runs) along with the wicket of Devine which left 19 runs for Goswami to defend. The left-arm spinner took 2 wickets for just 11 runs in her 4 overs.
Captain’s Speak:
Smriti Mandhana | Player of the Match: “The wicket was on the slower side and I felt 140 was enough, we thought we had 15 runs as bonus in the end. I have seen them do such stuff from the Indian dressing room but to see it from the opposition was really annoying. We wanted to have sweeper in and try and bowl the yorker, but she (Jhulan) wasn’t able to execute the yorkers and that’s when Suzie (Bates) came in and asked Jhulan to bowl wide of off stump. Our plan was to keep it wide and our spinners were excellent and it will really help us in the next game as well.”
Harmanpreet Kaur: “I knew if I was going to play till the end, I had the confidence to win but Sophie bowled the 19th over well and that changed it for us. I think we bowled well in the first ten overs, but we didn’t execute our plans in the last 10. When the ball comes on to the bat, it is hard to get the set batsmen out. I think we threw wickets away when we were set and that was the major problem today. Overall, I am really happy both the teams played well tonight.”
Toss: Supernovas won the toss and elected to field first.
First innings: Batting first, Suzie Bates departed early. But skipper Smriti Mandhana steadied the ship with Harleen Deol. Supernovas were tight with their line and lengths and did not bowl many loose deliveries in the powerplay and conceded just 25 runs. Halfway through the innings, the scoreboard read 52/1 and from this point, Mandhan and Deol started to accelerate.
Together they stitched a partnership of 119 for the second wicket, as Deol took a backseat, Mandhana took on the bowlers. Towards the end, Trailblazers lost wickets cheaply but Mandhana’s brilliant 90 off 67 balls took them to a score of 140/ 5 in 20 overs. Radha Yadav was the pick of the bowlers as she took 2 wickets whereas Anupa Patil and Sophie Devine took one each. Patil was economical with just 12 runs in her four-over spell.
Second innings: Similar to Trailblazers, Supernovas got off to a poor start, losing Priya Punia with six runs on the board. Sri Lankan batter Chamari Athapaththu and Jemimah Rodrigues tried to rebuild the innings. But Windies bowler Shakera Selman put an end to Rodrigues’ innings with a spectacular direct hit in 8th over. Athapaththu lost her wicket in the 11th over. Rajeshwari Gayakwad was handy with two wickets in middle overs.
It was Kaur who tried to keep the run chase alive with some lusty blows and assistance from Sophie Devine. Harmanpreet and New Zealander Sophie Devine (32 off 22) took the game deep with a 48-run stand for the fifth wicket. 19 were needed off the final over, but Kaur (46 not out off 34) failed to finish the job as Goswami conceded 17 runs.
Game Changer: Sophie Ecclestone’s brilliant penultimate over turned the game in favour of the Trailblazers. It was her economical over (2 runs) along with the wicket of Devine which left 19 runs for Goswami to defend. The left-arm spinner took 2 wickets for just 11 runs in her 4 overs.
Captain’s Speak:
Smriti Mandhana | Player of the Match: “The wicket was on the slower side and I felt 140 was enough, we thought we had 15 runs as bonus in the end. I have seen them do such stuff from the Indian dressing room but to see it from the opposition was really annoying. We wanted to have sweeper in and try and bowl the yorker, but she (Jhulan) wasn’t able to execute the yorkers and that’s when Suzie (Bates) came in and asked Jhulan to bowl wide of off stump. Our plan was to keep it wide and our spinners were excellent and it will really help us in the next game as well.”
Harmanpreet Kaur: “I knew if I was going to play till the end, I had the confidence to win but Sophie bowled the 19th over well and that changed it for us. I think we bowled well in the first ten overs, but we didn’t execute our plans in the last 10. When the ball comes on to the bat, it is hard to get the set batsmen out. I think we threw wickets away when we were set and that was the major problem today. Overall, I am really happy both the teams played well tonight.”