‘I knew it would go down to the wire’

Supernovas captain Harmanpreet expected Velocity batters to get close to the target, but was confident her bowlers would deliver in last-ball finish

‘I knew it would go down to the wire’

Supernovas players celebrate their win over Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge final in Pune on Saturday. Pic/BCCI; IPL

Supernovas’ triumphant captain Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said that her side knew that the Women’s T20 Challenge final against Velocity could go down to the wire. In the end, Supernovas beat Velocity by four runs in a tense match to win their third title in four editions. But, it was not an easy win as Laura Wolvaardt threatened to almost single-handedly took Velocity within striking distance of a sensational win, with a blazing 65 not out off 40 balls.

“My heartbeat was normal,” she said when asked about the tense last minutes. English left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone conceded 12 runs in the final over from which Velocity needed 17 to pull off a stunning win. “I knew this game was going to be like that only and I was prepared for the game to go down to the wire. Great effort by the girls. We never felt we won the game and we knew anything could happen.”

A flying start

Velocity’s opening pair of Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia made a flying start to their run chase of 166, by scoring 28 off the first two overs but they later suffered a batting collapse before Wolvaardt raised their hopes.

“First over was not in our favour but I knew if we get two early wickets, match can turn for us. At the right moment we were getting the wickets. When Pooja [Vastrakar] started, we planned something else, but she wasn’t able to bowl what we were thinking. It happens.

“The way Sophie bowled it was outstanding. She was quite confident. If you have a bowler who is so confident, half the job is done. I was just giving her placement and she was bowling the way she wanted to bowl. When you have teammates who always want to play each and every moment, you do that whether it’s in your favour or not.”

Dottin dominates

Player of the match as well as player of the tournament, Deandra Dottin, for her 44-ball 62 and two wickets for 28 runs, said she felt good to be a part of this event. Velocity captain Deepti Sharma said: “Laura [Wolvaardt] batted well and so did Simran [Bahadur]. We had the batting strength to win the game the way we played the last two games. We performed well but we left some runs out in the middle.”

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