Supernovas comprehensively earned their first victory of the Women’s T20 Challenge versus Trailblazers in a game that featured a massive collapse for the latter, resulting in a comfortable triumph for the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side. Pooja Vastrakar was the difference between the two sides as she bowled a wonderful spell, picking up 4/12 in a high-impact spell. The Supernovas had a good innings with the bat, getting to a total of 163 before restricting the Trailblazers to 114/9 largely thanks to Vastrakar’s spell.
Kaur won the toss and decided to bat first at the Maharashtra Cricket Association in Pune. Supernovas got off to a flyer thanks to Deandra Dottin who was extremely fluent from the get-go. She struck a series of boundaries in the powerplay, with opening partner Priya Punia playing the role of a mere spectator as the scoreboard read 50/0 after just 4.3 overs.
Nevertheless, Dottin was unable to continue after a mix-up between the two batters resulted in the downfall of the Caribbean. The Supernova innings was filled with high-impact knocks. Both Kaur and Harleen Deol came in and played good cameos, ultimately taking them to 163, even without the finish that the Supernovas would have hoped for.
Trailblazers, in pursuit of 164, began quite well with Smriti Mandhana and Hayley Mathews getting a good opening partnership. Despite Mathews’ dismissal in the fifth over, Jemimah Rodrigues took the innings forward quite well.
Trailblazers were cruising with two set batters in the middle, when Vastrakar induced a massive collapse, getting rid of Mandhana and Sophia Dunkley in the same over. The rest of the Supernovas attack, spurred on by Vastrakar’s performance, ran through the Trailblazers batting, with Alana King and Sophie Ecclestone both getting two wickets each.
Rodrigues braved the storm for some time, before Meghna Singh ended her stay at the crease, and also the Trailblazers chance at a stunning victory. It was only a matter of time, from that point, and the match eventually ended with a 49-run win for the Supernovas. Unsurprisingly, Vastrakar was declared player of the match for her brilliant performance.
Brief scores
Supernovas 163 (Harmanpreet 37, Dottin 32, Matthews 3-29, Khatun 2-30) beat Trailblazers 114 for 9 (Mandhana 34, Rodrigues 24, Vastrakar 4-12, Ecclestone 2-19, King 2-30) by 49 runs
