Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title with a four-run win over Velocity in a thrilling final at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday, thanks to West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin’s excellent performance with both bat and ball.
This is the third time that Harmanpreet Kaur’s Supernovas have won the title and this time it was Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title, having won the first two editions of the competition in 2018 and 2019, before losing in the final to Trailblazers in 2020. Due of the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament was cancelled last year.
Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title; she shined with both Bat and Ball
After being put in to bat, Supernovas scored 165-7 in 20 overs because of Dottin’s attacking fifty (62 off 44). With the bat, she took two wickets for 28 runs in four overs, allowing Velocity to be reduced to 161 for eight this culminated in Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title.
Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia got Velocity off to a quick start in the chase, needing 166 runs to win. Shafali, on the other hand, was dismissed for an 8-ball 15 in Dottin’s third over.
Bhatia hit Ecclestone for a boundary, but she quickly returned the catch to the bowler. Kiran Navgire, who had just delivered a match-winning innings in her previous game, was bowled for a 13-ball duck by Ecclestone.
After a couple of quiet overs, South African batter Laura Wolvaardt relieved some of the pressure in the ninth over by hitting two boundaries off Vastrakar. But Chantham was out lbw in the same over, and by the time the 11th was through, Velocity had lost half their team, with Deepti returning to the hut in King’s first over.
Velocity went 22 deliveries without a boundary before Rana hit a four with a sweep off King in the 13th over. Velocity, on the other hand, were still playing catch-up, needing 91 runs off the final seven overs.
Wolvaardt and Rana tried to keep up by striking some crucial boundaries, but Alana King took the wickets of both Rana and Radha in the same over, and Dottin added to her tally by sending Kate Cross (13 off 7) back after being struck for two fours, putting Velocity’s prospects in jeopardy.
In the 18th over, Wolvaardt (65 not out off 40) and Simran Bahadur (20 not out off 10) each struck a six off King, bringing the equation to 34 runs off the last two overs.
Vastrakar, who bowled the final over, conceded 17 runs as Wolvaardt and Simran both hit important boundaries. Despite Wolvaardt striking a six off the first delivery, Velocity needed 17 runs from the final over. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (2/28), the No. 1 ranked T20I and ODI bowler, surrendered just 12 runs to win the match.
Dottin had earlier contributed 73 runs for the first wicket with Priya Punia (28) and 58 for the second wicket with Harmanpreet Kaur, who was in fine form (43 off 29 balls) and eventually Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title.
Despite Dottin’s dismissal by Velocity captain Deepti, the Supernovas were in good shape to finish in the 180s, having reached 131/2 at the end of the 15th over. The opposition bowlers’ collective bowling effort in the last five overs, however, weakened the Supernovas’ innings, as they finished with 165-7 on the board.
Deepti Sharma, Kate Cross, and Simran Bahadur each claimed two wickets for Velocity, while Ayabonga Khaka took one.
Velocity 161/8 in 20 overs (Laura Wolvaardt 65 not out, Simran Bahadur 20 not out; Alana King 3-32, Sophie Ecclestone 2-28, Deandra Dottin 2-28) beat Supernovas 165/7 in 20 overs (Deandra Dottin 62, Harmanpreet Kaur 43; Deepti Sharma 2-20, Kate Cross 2-29) by 4 runs.
It was a superlative performance with both bat and ball and it was good for Deandra Dottin’s heroics leads Supernovas to Women’s T20 Challenge title.