Jaipur: Captain Harmanpreet Kaur (51, 37b, 4×4, 3×6) struck a sensational half century as Supernovas clinched the Women’s T20 Challenge title with a four-wicket win over Velocity in a dramatic summit clash here Saturday.
Kaur produced a late onslaught on the Velocity bowlers after the Supernovas made a heavy weather of a small chase of 121. The Supernovas overhauled the target off the last delivery of the run chase, reaching 125/6 from 20 overs.
With seven runs needed off the final over, the drama unfolded as Kaur was out in the second delivery which raised the visions of a Velocity win. But Lea Tahuhu (2 n o) and Radha Yadav (10 n o) kept their nerves to hit the required runs in a tense finish.
Supernovas struggled initially with opener Chamari Atapattu (two) run out in the second over itself but Jemimah Rodrigues (22) and Priya Punia (29) steadied the run chase with a 44-run stand for the second wicket.
The pressure mounted for Supernovas when both Rodrigues and Punia fell in consecutive deliveries, before Bangladesh bowler Jahanara Alam (2/21) claimed Natalie Sciver (two) and Sophie Devine (three) to reduce them to 64/ 5 in the 16th over.
However, it was Kaur, who showed why she is considered the premier batswoman in the country with a flurry of beautiful shots to take her side near the victory target.
Earlier, Supernovas produced a clinical bowling display to restrict Velocity to 121/6. The Mithali Raj-led team suffered a batting collapse as they were reduced to 37/ 5 in the eighth over before Amelia Kerr (36) and Sushma Verma (40 n o) stitched 71 runs in 10.5 overs for the sixth wicket to take their side to a respectable total.
Brief scores: Velocity 121/6 (Sushma Verma 40 n o, Amelia Kerr 36; Lee Tahuhu 2/21) lost to Supernovas 125/6 (Harmanpreet Kaur 51; Jahanara Alam 2/21, Amelia Kerr 2/29) by four wickets.
