Trailblazers stifle Supernovas

The Trailblazers beat the Supernovas by 16 runs in the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge in Sharjah yesterday, on the back of some miserly bowling that helped them defend a modest score of 118.

Despite the dew making it difficult to grip the ball, the Trailblazers played to the spin-friendly conditions utilizing five spinners and choking the Supernovas for runs.

Bangladesh’s Salma Khatun was the pick of the bowlers finishing with 3 for 17 in her four overs but it was not a solo effort that restricted the Supernovas, with Deepti Sharma and Sophie Ecclestone also among the wickets.

It was a case of the Trailblazers’ bowlers bailing out their batsmen, who earlier failed to build on an outstanding half-century from captain Smriti Mandhana, slipping from 71 for no loss to 118 for 8 in their 20 overs.

Her brilliance was matched by Supernovas’ left-arm spinner Radha Yadav who accounted for five wickets in her last two overs to finish with figures of 5 for 16.

Mandhana was the only batswoman from her team to score at more than a run-a-ball, scoring 68 off 49 balls, with the next best contribution being 20 off 32 deliveries from Deandra Dottin.

Mandhana shifted into gear early on, taking 14 off the second over of the innings bowled by Anuja Patil, with two boundaries and a six.

She put on 71 runs with her opening partner Dottin – a partnership which spanned 11 overs.

Dottin, who played second fiddle to Mandhana was caught off the bowling of Poonam Yadav at the beginning of the next over.

But it wasn’t a setback that fazed the Trailblazers’ captain who sailed past her half-century with a boundary and a six late in that same over, taking 38 balls to reach the milestone.

However, after Mandhana was caught out of her crease by the quick glovework of Taniya Bhatia in the 15th over, the Trailblazers failed to push on, scoring just 17 runs off the last five overs and losing six wickets.

That was in large part thanks to Radha Yadav, who removed Deepti Sharma and Richa Ghosh in the 18th over and Sophie Ecclestone, Harleen Deol and Jhulan Goswami in the final over of the innings.

It was ultimately left to a hobbling Harmenpreet Kaur to fashion an unlikely win for the Supernovas in the run chase, but despite her best efforts she could not find enough support around her.

Sri Lankan star Chamari Atapattu, who had shown excellent form in her previous two innings this tournament, was the first Supernova wicket to fall when she was trapped leg before wicket to Ecclestone for 6 in the second over – a decision that was reviewed and overturned by the Trailblazers.

Bhatia was caught in the seventh over, chipping the ball to short mid-wicket, with the score on 30, leaving Jemimah Rodrigues and Kaur to fashion a recovery.

Two overs later though, Rodrigues was spectacularly caught by Nepal’s Nattakan Chantam at cover-point as the Supernovas slipped to 37 for 3.

Sri Lanka’s Shashikala Siriwardene and Kaur then put on 37 runs for the fourth wicket, and that proved to be the best partnership for the Supernovas, after the former was caught by Goswani off the bowling of Khatun with the total on 74.

Siriwardene did well to keep the scoreboard ticking over with 19 off 18 balls, having also contributed with the ball picking up a wicket and conceding just 22 runs in her four overs.

Kaur couldn’t up the ante and was the second of three wickets that fell in the 19th over, that left the Supernovas needing 25 off the last seven balls.

Chief scores:
Trailblazers: 118/8 in 20 overs (D Dottin 20, S Mandhana 68, R Yadav 5/16, P Yadav 1/23, S Siriwardene 1/22)
Supernova: 102/7 in 20 overs (H Kaur 30, S Siriwardene 19, S Khatun 3/18, D Sharma2/9, S Ecclestone 1/26)