After posting a challenging 146/6 wickets, Harmanpreet Kaur’s Supernovas restricted the Smriti Mandhana-led Trailblazers to 144/5 wickets in 20 overs.
Hamilton (New Zealand): India's Smriti Mandhana in action during the third women's T20I match between India and New Zealand at Seddon Park in Hamilton, New Zealand on Feb 10, 2019. (Photo: Surjeet Yadav/IANS)
Trailblazers skipper Smriti Mandhana said that their defeat against Supernovas in the last league match of the ongoing Women’s T20 Challenge was “a wake up call”. She hoped for better performance from her bowlers.
The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Supernovas beat Trailblazers by just two runs in the thrilling encounter. However, the points earned by both the teams made sure that they would face themselves in the final again on Sunday.
“The way our bowlers bowled in the first match, this match is a wake up call for them and the fielding unit. I think we gave them 15-20 runs extra in the fielding and we’ll work hard on that before the final,” said Mandhana after the match.
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After posting a challenging 146/6 wickets, Supernovas restricted their opponents to 144/5 wickets in 20 overs. Chamari Athapaththu’s 67 off 48 and her 89-run partnership with Priya Puniya (30 runs) were the brightest prospects of Supernovas’ innings.
Chamari fell soon but skipper Harmanpreet Kaur chipped in with valuable 31 as her side managed to post a decent total on board.
“The way Deepti and Harleen took it to the last ball, it was a great effort. There was quite a bit of dew around. I saw that after the first innings. Would have been difficult for their spinners,” said Mandhana.
“We were looking to win the match. We really didn’t think about what the qualification scenarios were. We didn’t think about which team we’d play. Hopefully we can get the batter of them in the final.”
Chasing the target, Trailblazers witnessed a good start as Smriti (33) and Deandra Dottin (27) added 44 runs before Shakera Selman (2/31) scalped the latter. Selman struck again in the same over when she castled Richa Ghosh (4) cheaply.
Just when Trailblazers were four runs short of victory, with two balls to be bowled, Radha Yadav (2/30) turned the match in Supernovas’ way when she got the better of Harleen.
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