Women’s T20 Challenge 2022: Pooja Vastrakar leads the charge as Supernovas crush defending champs Trailblazers
India Today
On Monday, May 23, Harmanpreet Kaur's Supernovas defeated Smriti Mandhana's Trailblazers by 49 runs at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
Supernovas, on Monday, May 23, started the Women’s T20 Challenge 2022 on a great note after beating defending champions Trailblazers by 49 runs at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune.
After electing to bat first, the Supernovas got off to a brisk start courtesy of a 50-run partnership between Deandra Dottin and Priya Punia in five overs. Bangladesh’s Sharmin Akter Supta separated the duo after she ran out the dangerous looking Dottin, who scored 32 off 17.
Punia promised with a 22-run knock before the wily Hayley Matthews rattled her woodwork. Harleen Deol came out firing on all cylinders and scored 35 with five fours, after which Salma Khatun dismissed her LBW. Sune Luus and Alana King couldn’t quite make much of an impact.
Supernovas’ skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was determined to play until the very end. The veteran scored 37 runs with four fours and was starting to up the ante. However, a terrible mix-up with the non-striker led to her downfall in the penultimate over of the innings.
After an impressive start, the Supernovas were bowled out for 163. Matthews picked up three wickets and was the standout bowler for her team. Even as Khatun picked up two wickets, Poonam Yadav and Rajeshwari Gayakwad got one scalp each.
The Trailblazers got off to a splendid start after skipper Smriti Mandhana and Matthews put on 39 for the first wicket off five overs. Pooja Vastrakar got rid of Matthews, who scored 18, to draw first blood. A couple of overs later, Mandhana perished after scoring 34 off 23 with four fours.
Once the openers perished, it was one-way traffic in favour of the Supernovas. Jemimah Rodrigues, who made a shift from the Supernovas to the Trailblazers, scored 24 runs, but didn’t get enough support from her teammates.
