Verma, Luus power Velocity past Supernovas
Sushma Verma and Sune Luus starred with the bat as Velocity beat Supernovas by five wickets in the Jio Women’s T20 Challenge opener in Sharjah yesterday.
Defending 126, Supernovas struck in the first over as Ayabonga Khaka got the wicket of Danielle Wyatt. While Shafali Verma hammered four fours to move to 17, the right-hander got out in the third over as Khaka picked her second wicket.
Shashikala Siriwardene then gave Supernovas a big breakthrough as she dismissed Mithali Raj in the ninth over after the Velocity skipper was holed out in the deep.
While Veda kept the scorecard ticking, scoring 28 off 29 balls, Radha Yadav got her out in the 13th over after Chamari Athapaththu completed the catch at extra covers.
But Sushma Verma and Sune Luus turned the tide. The pair joined hands in the 14th over. Luus and Verma then hit two sixes and a four in the next two overs.
Velocity moved
past hundred in the 17th over as Verma creamed another six. Supernovas though managed to break the 51-run stand between Verma and Luss as Poonam Yadav ended Verma’s fine 34-run knock in the 19th over.
Velocity needed nine runs of the last over to seal a win. Luus hit a four on the second ball after Shikha Pandey scored a single on the first delivery and with it brought down the target to 4 runs off 4 balls.
While Supernovas gave away two runs on the next two balls, Luus hit a four on the penultimate ball of the match to complete Velocity’s five-wicket win.
Earlier, Mithali Raj won the toss and Velocity elected to bowl. Supernovas openers – Priya Punia and Chamari Athapaththu – made a steady start. But their 30-run stand was broken in the sixth over after Leigh Kasperek dismissed Punia for 11.
Ekta Bisht gave Velocity their second wicket as she got Jemimah Rodrigues out in the eighth over.
Supernovas moved past fifty in the tenth over before Chamari Athapaththu creamed two sixes in the next two overs. Harmanpreet Kaur joined the six-hitting party as she tonked Sune Luus for a maximum in the 13th over.
The Chamari Athapaththu-Harmanpreet’s 43-run stand was broken in the 14th over after Jahanara Alam dismissed Athapaththu for 44.
Supernovas brought up their hundred in the 15th over as Harman creamed her second six of the match. A couple of overs later though, Harman got out after scoring 31 off 27 balls.
Velocity eventually restricted Supernovas to 126/8 as Ekta Bisht picked three wickets while Jahanara Alam and Leigh Kasperek scalped two wickets each.
Brief Scores: Velocity 129/ 5 ( Sune Luus 37*, Sushma Verma 34; Ayabonga Khaka 2/27) beat Supernovas 126/ 8 (Chamari Athapaththu 44, Harmanpreet Kaur 31; Ekta Bisht 3/22) by five wickets