Dottin’s Supernovas prevail over Matthews’ Trailblazers in T20 Challenge

The Supernovas registered a victory in the opening match of the My 11 Circle Women’s T20 Challenge 2022, beating the Trailblazers by 49 runs on Monday at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune.

Harmanpreet Kaur led from the front with the bat, while Pooja Vastrakar claimed a brilliant four-wicket haul, powering Supernovas to a clinical 49-run victory.

Chasing 164 for victory, Trailblazers were off to a fine start after Hayley Matthews’ power-hitting and Smriti Mandhana’s elegant shots helped Trailblazers move to 34-0 after four overs.

Pooja Vastrakar provided the opening breakthrough for Supernovas after Hayley Mathews was caught behind and the Trailblazers were 48-1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Jemimah Rodrigues joined skipper Mandhana, who continued the flow of runs from one end before the Trailblazers lost two wickets in quick succession.

Priya Punia grabbed two sharp catches off Vastrakar’s bowling to dismiss Mandhana and Sophia Dunkley.

The Supernovas were on top after Alana King rattled the stumps of Sharmin Akhter in the next over. Trailblazers lost two more wickets after Richa Ghosh was caught inside the circle off Sophie Ecclestone’s bowling, while Arundhati Reddy was run-out on the next ball.

Vastrakar finished her spell with a four-wicket haul after Salma Khatun was caught at the covers by Ecclestone.

Jemimah Rodrigues’ 24-run knock came to an end after Harleen Deol dived forward and took a brilliant catch off Meghna Singh’s bowling.

King scalped her second wicket after Poonam Yadav was caught in the deep as Supernovas won the game by 49 runs at the end.

Earlier, Kaur won the toss and Supernovas opted to bat first. Priya Punia displayed positive intent after smacking a maximum straight down the ground in the first over.

Deandra Dottin then took over and creamed three fours in the third over. The fifty partnership was up for the pair as Dottin continued to strike the ball cleanly. However, a successful direct-hit from Renuka Singh in the fifth over put an end to Dottin’s knock of 32.

The Supernovas were placed at 58-1 at the end of the Powerplay before Matthews cleaned up Priya Punia to scalp her first wicket.

Harleen Deol, who struck consecutive fours in the eighth over, was joined by Kaur as Supernovas reached the 100-run mark. Salma Khatun struck in the second over of her spell after Harleen Deol was trapped LBW in the 12th over.

Supernovas further lost two wickets in quick succession after Sune Luus and Alana King were caught inside the circle facing Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Salma Khatun respectively.

Kaur kept scoring runs at brisk pace after adding consecutive fours off Gayakwad’s bowling. Supernovas moved to 149-5 with two overs to go.

Trailblazers struck twice in the penultimate over. While Poonam Yadav dismissed Vastrakar, a confusion in the middle led to the run-out of Kaur.

Supernovas were all out for 163 in the first innings after Matthews claimed two wickets in addition to a run-out in the final over. (IPL)