Wolvaardt lauds Dottin’s performance in Supernovas title win
WEST INDIES all-rounder Deandra Dottin has come in for some praise for her all-round efforts from South African Laura Wolvaardt.
“She’s an incredible cricketer, an incredible T20 player. She’s so powerful with the bat, and then she bowls as well, and bowls really well,” said Wolvaardt.
The praise came after Dottin’s all-round performance helped the Supernovas to a Women’s Twenty20 Challenge title at the weekend.
Dottin’s Supernovas beat Velocity in a four-run affair in the final after first stroking a half-century and then returning to grab two for 28 with the ball.
Dottin was not just named Player of the Match, but Player of the Series as well, finishing with 100 runs and four wickets from three matches.
Playing at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Saturday, the 30-year-old top-scored with 62 off 44 deliveries as Supernovas rallied to 165 for seven from their 20 overs.
The Barbadian then returned to take two for 28 from four overs of medium pace to help restrict Velocity to 161 for eight from their 20 overs, Wolvaardt’s unbeaten 65 off 40 deliveries going in vain.
Sent in, Supernovas benefited from Dottin’s enterprise, the right-hander posting 73 for the first wicket with Priya Punia (28) and adding a further 58 for the second wicket with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (43).
Dottin hit a four and four sixes, reaching her halfcentury off 33 deliveries in the 11th over by clearing the ropes at long on with left-arm spinner Radha Yadav.
She was second out at the end of the 15th over, bowled missing a scoop at off-spinner Deepti Sharma (2-20), but Harmanpreet kept the innings going, striking a four and three sixes in her 29-ball knock.
In reply, Velocity were away to a swift start, with Shafali Verma (15) and Yastika Bhatia (13) posting 29 off just 13 deliveries for the first wicket.
However, Dottin struck with the first ball of her spell when she got Verma to glove to the keeper, the dismissal triggering a slide that saw five wickets tumble for 35 runs.
Wolvaardt, who counted five fours and three sixes, propped up the innings in a 40-run, sixth-wicket stand with Sneh Rana (15), but another cluster of wickets – three for 13 runs off nine balls – once again set Velocity back.
“She (Dottin) bowled really well today, especially upfront. She had a lot of change-ups and variations and was bowling bouncers and yorkers, so it was hard to predict what she was doing.
“And she had a couple of different fields as well, which we don’t really see too often. So, I think it’s great the way that she plays her game and goes about it; and when she is in form, like she is now, she’s very destructive,” said Wolvaardt.