Quick guide:
Women’s T20 Challenge 2022
For the very first time in the league’s history, the veterans Mithali Raj and Jhulan Goswami were not a part of the tournament. Deepti Sharma was appointed as the captain for team Velocity in absence of Mithali Raj. However, there were some first timers who were on everyone’s watchlist:
- S Meghana: After a splendid Senior One day trophy, S Meghana got selected for India, and had showed her impact in the 3 matches she got a chance to play in, in the New Zealand series
- Yastika Bhatia: Now a team India regular, Yastika had been a consistent performer for India in the last season.
- Kiran Navgire: Kiran rose to fame fast after a superb Senior T20 trophy, where she stunned everyone by her extra ordinary hard-hitting ability.
- Maya Sonawane: Known for her very unique bowling action, Sonawane grabbed eyeballs by her domestic records.
Match 1 Summary : Supernovas vs Trailblazers
Trailblazers (led by Smriti Mandhana) won the toss and sent Supernovas (led by Harmanpreet Kaur) to bat first in the opening match of the T20 Challenge. Batters, Priya Punia 22(20) and Deandra Dottin 32(17) gave a good start by adding 50 runs in 5 overs. Harleen Deol 35(19)and captain Harmanpreet Kaur 37(29) added valuable runs in the middle overs to build good partnerships.
However, a flurry of wickets during the end, saw Supernovas go from 121/3 to 163/10 very quickly. Hayley Matthews was stand out from Trailblazers with the bowling figures 4/29 in 4 overs.
In response, Hayley Matthews 18(14) and captain Smriti Mandhana 34(23) started off well with bat and added 39 runs in 5 overs. However, the Trailblazers’ middle order collapsed and the scores went from from 63/1 to 73/7. Jemimah Rodrigues’ valiant effort of 24 (21) went in vain as the wickets kept falling from other end and Trailblazers ended on 114/9 in 20 overs.
Supernovas won by a huge margin of 49 runs and almost booked the berth for the finals.
There were some outstanding fielding efforts on show specially from the Supernovas side as Priya Punia took two stunning catches and Harleen Deol also impressed the fans with her athletic fielding.
Pooja Vastrakar was star of the day with ball with the astonishing bowling figure of 4-12-4. We witnessed some good support from Sophie Ecclestone (2/19) and Alana King (2/30) too.
Match 2 Summary : Supernovas vs Velocity
Team Velocity, led by the debutant captain Deepti Sharma, won the toss and sent Supernovas, led by Harmanpreet Kaur to bat first. Supernovas stumbled and got reduced to 3/18 in 3.5 overs with Kate Cross as the star of the show!!
But the captain Harmanpreet Kaur 71(51) and the vice-captain Taniya Bhatia 36(32), led from the front and steadied the ship as they added valuable 82 runs in the next 10 overs. Later Sune Luss 20(14), finished off the innings well and took Supernovas to good total of 150/5 in 20 overs.
In response, Velocity went off to a flying start as Shafali Verma 51(33) and Yastika Bhatia 17(13) went all guns blazing and took team Velocity to a score of 69/1 in 7.1 overs! Later, the responsibility feel on the shoulders of Laura Wolvaardt [51 (35)] and Deepti Sharma[24 (25)] who’s contribution helped Velocity chase the total easily in 18.2 overs.
Deepti Sharma started off her captaincy run with a win!
Match 3 Summary : Velocity vs Trailblazers
Team Velocity won the toss and sent Trailblazers to bat first in the decider match before the Finals! Not only was it a must win match for the Trailblazers, they had to win this match by more than 32 runs to qualify for the finals!
The batters gave them a flying start. After missing out in the first match, S Meghana again proved her potential by opening the innings and scoring 73 runs in 47 deliveries. After losing captain Smriti early on at 13 in 2.3 overs, Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues added 113 runs in the next 12 overs.
A superb finishing by the overseas players, Hayley Matthews 27(16) and Sophia Dunkley 19 (8) took Trailblazers to a strong total of 190/5 in 20 overs and gave them a genuine shot at the chances for finals.
This innings on the other end also saw some disastrous fielding efforts from Team Velocity as catches were dropped and mis-fields kept happening through out the first innings.
In response to this mammoth of total in the entire tournament so far, Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia started well yet again as they added 36 in 4 overs. After losing Yastika, came the much awaited batter, Kiran Prabhu Navgire. All eyes were on her and she didn’t disappoint!
Read: Kiran Navgire’s Journey from Athletics to Cricket
She started off with a huge six on the second ball she faced, it was all Navgire show after that. She scored a massive 69 runs in 34 deliveries before getting stumped by Richa Ghosh off Sophia Dunkley’s bowling.
Rest of the Velocity line up however, could not keep up as the wickets kept falling at regular intervals. But Navgire and Shafali’s innings had already done the damage as they crossed the required 158 run mark easily and qualified for the finals!
Velocity ended with 174 runs on the board and lost the match by 16 runs, but they were through to the finals!
The Finale : Supernovas vs Trailblazers
Velocity won the toss yet again and and chose to bowl first in the final match of the Women’s T20 Challenge 2022.
Team Supernovas had a great start as the openers Priya and Deandra Dottin, took the score up to 73 runs in 9.3 overs. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur too joined the party. Both Harmanpreet Kaur [43 (29)] and Deandra Dottin [62 (44)] were outstanding with the bat. Despite the good start, Supernovas could not finish off well as even after sitting comfortably at 131/2 in 15 overs they could only manage to add another 34 runs in the last 5 overs and finished at 165/7 in 20 overs.
For Team Velocity, Shafali Verma and Yastika Bhatia, yet again, gave a flying start and took Velocity to a good score of 29 in 2 overs, but then with Shafali and Yastika’s back to back wickets, team Velocity’s struggle started. Hero of the last match Kiran Navgire had a forgettable match as she scored a 13 ball duck.
Velocity looked down and out and were struggling at 117/8 in 16.5 overs. They needed 49 in 19 balls with 2 wickets in hand which looked impossible, but then something extra ordinary happened.
Laura Wolvaardt who was unbeaten so far and Simran Dil Bahadur who came at no. 9, started hitting all over the park. The duo took 14 runs in the 18th over and then added another quick 17 runs in the 19th over of the match. The hopes were alive again and the fans were on the edge of their seats!
They needed 19 from the last over and the world no. 1 Sophie Ecclestone took the ball to defend it for Team Supernovas. The first ball went for SIX.
After being beaten for a boundary in the first ball, the experienced Ecclestone did her magic and kept spinning a strong web. The Wolvaardt- Bahadur duo who smacked the balls all over the park, could only manage another 6 runs in the last 5 balls! Velocity ended agonizingly close and lost the match by just 4 runs.
Supernovas lifted the trophy for the 3rd time in 4 years!!
This season of Women’s T20 Challenge, saw incredible batting performances and fearless & hard hitting batting approach, as only 1 out of 8 innings’ score was below 150.
A great tournament to witness for the fans and the viewers! And it definitely made a strong case for the WIPL!
INDIA vs SRI LANKA
While the Women’s T20 Challenge has been a brilliant execution of talents, it would be interesting to see some of the similar faces in the upcoming Sri Lanka tour. The team will be led by Harmanpreet Kaur in all formats following the retirement of the Legend of Indian Women’s cricket, Mithali Raj.
The series consists of 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs starting from 23rd June 2022. The T20I matches will be played at Dambulla, Sri Lanka and the ODI games will be played at Pallekele, Sri Lanka.
Schedule for T20Is –
- June 23, 2:30pm IST
- June 25, 2:30pm IST
- June 27, 2:30pm IST
Schedule for ODIs –
- July 1, 10am IST
- July 4, 10am IST
- July 7, 10am IST
India’s squad for T20Is :
- Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain)
- Smriti Mandhana (VC)
- Shafali Verma
- Yastika Bhatia (wk)
- S Meghna
- Deepti Sharma
- Poonam Yadav
- Rajeshwari Gayakwad
- Simran Bahadur
- Richa Ghosh (wk)
- Pooja Vastrakar
- Meghna Singh
- Renuka Singh
- Jemimah Rodrigues
- Radha Yadav.
India’s squad for ODIs :
- Harmanpreet Kaur (Captain)
- Smriti Mandhana (VC)
- Shafali Verma
- Yastika Bhatia (wk)
- S Meghna
- Deepti Sharma
- Poonam Yadav
- Rajeshwari Gayakwad
- Simran Bahadur
- Richa Ghosh (wk)
- Pooja Vastrakar
- Meghna Singh
- Renuka Singh
- Taniya Bhatia (wk)
- Harleen Deol
Sri Lanka’s squad for ODIs and T20Is
- Chamari Athapaththu (Captain)
- Hasini Perera
- Kavisha Dilhari
- Nilakshi de Silva
- Anushka Sanjeevani
- Oshadhi Ranasinghe
- Sugandika Kumari
- Inoka Ranaweeram
- Achini Kulasuriya
- Harshitha Samarawickrama
- Vishmi Gunaratne
- Malsha Shehani
- Ama Kanchana
- Udeshika Prabodhani
- Rashmi de Silva
- Hansima Karunaratne
- Kaushani Nuthyangana
- Sathya Sandeepani
- Tharika Sewwandi
~ Poulami Das (Beyond the Matches)
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