International Women’s T20 Three Team Challenge: at Ash-Shariqah (Sharjah), UAE; November 7th
As seen on ‘Scroll India’ social media, India’s All-Rounder Deepti Sharma (43* off 40 balls) came from nowhere to stage two vital partnerships with fellow Indian team-mates. Deepti added 35 runs firstly with Skipper Smriti Mandhana (33 off 40). Deepti also added 52 runs with Harleen Deol (27 off 15). Arriving to face the final match ball, England’s Sophie Ecclestone (1*) was unable to find the gap, needing to score ‘four’ for victory. Earlier, Sri Lanka’s Chamari Athapaththu top-scored for the winning team.
* Chamari (67 off 47 balls) and India’s Priya Punia piled on 50 runs during their first six overs of ‘powerplay’ adding another 30 runs by the half-way point without loss. The breakthrough came during the twelfth over (89/1) when West Indies star Deandra Dottin caught Priya Punia (30).
*Edging towards the 150-mark, Skipper (and India’s IT20 captain) Harmanpreet Kaur (31 off 29 balls) was dropped by Deandra Dottin during the penultimate over. Two more wickets fell to ‘run outs’ during Supernovas’ final over – that set Trailblazers a ‘half-decent’ target of 147 to win.
*Having scored 44 without loss, disaster struck ‘Trailblazers’ when during the same over, West Indies pacer Shakera Selman (2-33) claimed Deandre Dottin (27 off 15 balls); and Rica Ghosh (4). Smriti Mandhana as Skipper, staged an initial recovery with Indian team mate Deepti Sharma before Smriti (33 off 40) was caught-and-bowled by Anuja Patil (1-18).
* Remarkably, 54 runs came from the last thirty balls as India’s Deepti Sharma (43* off 40 balls) and team-mate Harleen Deol (27 off 15) held their partnership firm until the penultimate ball of Radha Yadav’s final over.
Summary: An exciting match with a cliff-hanger ending that saw Trailblazers fall short of their target by just two runs.
Result: ‘Supernovas’ (146/6) beat ‘Trailblazers’ (144/5) by 2 runs. Both teams are qualified for Monday’s final.
Supernovas 146/6 (20 overs) Chamari Athapaththu 67, Harmanpreet Kaur 31, Priya Punia 30; Jhulan Goswani 1-17, Harleen Deol 1-10; beat Trailblazers 144/5 (20 overs) Deepti Sharma 43*, Smriti Mandhana 33, Harleen Deol 27, Deandra Dottin 27; Shakera Selman 2-33; Anuja Patil 1-18; Radha Yadav 1-32.
Next match – Final: Supernovas v Trailblazers on Monday 9th November (13:55GMT) Broadcast live on SKY Sports Cricket, BBC Radio 5 Sports Xtra and Scroll India.
