Harmanpreet Kaur leads Supernovas to Women's T20 Challenge title

Image Credits: Reuters

Captain Harmanpreet Kaur struck a sensational half-century as the Supernovas clinched the Women's T20 Challenge title with a four-wicket win over Velocity in a dramatic summit clash on Saturday.

Kaur (51) produced a late onslaught on the Velocity bowlers after the Supernovas made a mess after being handed a target of 122 runs. The Supernovas overhauled the target off the last delivery of the run chase, reaching 125 for 6 from 20 overs. 

Coming out to bat in the 11th over with the team score at 53 for 2, the India Women T20 captain struck a quickfire 51 off 37 balls which comprised of four boundaries and three sixes to take her side to the threshold of victory.

The Supernovas needed seven from the final over but drama unfolded as Kaur was dismissed off the second delivery which raised expectations of a Velocity win. But Lea Tahuhu (2 not out) and Radha Yadav (10 not out) kept their nerves to hit the required runs in a tense finish.

The Supernovas struggled initially with the Velocity bowlers not allowing them to score runs easily.

Opener Chamari Atapattu was run out for 2 in the second over itself while going for a third run but Jemimah Rodrigues (22) and Priya Punia (29) steadied the chase with a 44-run stand for the second wicket.

Runs were hard to come by with the Velocity bowlers stifling the Supernova batswomen. The Supernovas were dealt a blow as Rodrigues and Punia were dismissed off consecutive deliveries to leave them in trouble.

Rodrigues was dismissed by Amelia Kerr who took the catch off her own bowling off the final delivery of the 10th over while Punia was dismissed by Vaidya in the first ball of the 11th over.

The Supernovas were placed at 53 for 2 at the halfway stage, needing 69 runs from 10 overs. Pressure began to pile on the Supernovas.

Bangladesh bowler Jahanara Alam then dismissed Natalie Sciver (2) and Sophie Devine (3) off her consecutive overs (14th and 16th) to reduce the Supernovas to 64 for 5 in the 16th over.

The Supernovas needed 45 runs from the final five overs and Kaur showed why she is considered the premier batswoman in the country with a flurry of boundaries. She hit two fours off Jahanara Alam in the 16th over and followed it up with two sixes off Devika Vaidya in the 18th over to take her side near the victory target.

Earlier, the Supernovas produced a clinical bowling display to restrict Velocity to 121 for 6.

Sent into bat, Velocity suffered a batting collapse as they were reduced to 37 for 5 in the eighth over before Amelia Kerr (36) and Sushma Verma (40 not out) stitched a partnership of 71 runs in 10.5 overs for the sixth wicket to take their side to a respectable total.

But for the superb late fightback by Kerr and Verma, Velocity would not have even crossed the 100-run mark.

Wicketkeeper batswoman Verma top-scored for Velocity with a 32-ball 40 not out which comprised of three fours and a six. 

Kerr, who holds the record of scoring the highest individual runs (232 not out) in ODIs, hit 36 runs off 38 deliveries in an innings which had four boundaries in it.

Velocity made a disastrous start, losing a wicket each in the first three overs to be reduced to 14 for 3.

New Zealand pacewoman Lea Tahuhu swung the second ball of the innings away from Hayley Mathews who edged it to the keeper for a duck. Danielle Wyatt (0) went for a pre-meditated shot in the next over bowled by Anuja Patil but failed to connect with the ball due to a late drift and was stumped.

Shefali Verma hit the first four of the innings in the third over bowled by Tuhuhu who, however, had the last laugh by dismissing the batswoman the next delivery with Anuja Patil taking the catch.

A brief period of recovery intervened with captain Mithali Raj (12) and Veda Krishnamurthy (8) stitching a 23-run partnership for the fourth wicket before both the batswomen departed in the space of four deliveries without the addition of a single run.

It left the Velocity innings in a mess at 73 for 5 in the eighth over before Kerr and Verma rescued their side with a superb partnership.

For the Supernovas, Tuhuhu took two wickets for 21 runs while Patil, Devine and Poonam Yadav grabbed a wicket each.