Women’s T20 Challenge 2020 – SUP vs VEL Review: Sune Luus, Sushma Verma take Velocity home

The third edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge began on a stunning note as the tournament opener went right down to the wire. Velocity started their campaign with a win defeating the defending champions Supernovas in the last over thriller. Earlier, Mithali Raj won the toss and invited the Supernovas to bat first.

Chamari Athapaththu and Priya Punia started decently adding 30 runs before the latter got out in the sixth over. However, her partner batted well despite losing Jemimah Rodrigues early. This is when Harmanpreet Kaur and Athapaththu joined hands and stitched a crucial partnership. The duo batted superbly to add 47 runs for the third wicket.

Athapaththu scored 44 runs as she smacked two fours and as many sixes before losing her wicket in the 14th over. Kaur kept playing her shots mustering 31 runs. In the 17th over, when the score was 111, it felt as if Supernovas would get to 140 easily. But Velocity staged a good comeback in the death overs to restrict the opposition to 126/8 in 20 overs.

The chase was always going to be tricky on a slow pitch. And it began the same way. Ayabonga Khaka struck twice in her first two overs to send back Danielle Wyatt and Shafali Verma. Mithali Raj also couldn’t do much, scoring 7 off 19 balls. When Veda Krishnamurthy got out for 29, Velocity were reeling at 65/4 in the 13th over.

Sushma Verma and Sune Luus then staged one of the mightiest comebacks for Velocity and they stunned Supernovas with their batting. They added 51 runs off 35 balls and then Luus batted superbly to get the team over the line in the last over.

Top performers

Turning Point

Sune Luus’ match-winning knock – Sune Luus came out to bat with the team struggling at 65/4. Along with Sushma, she first got hold of the conditions and then took toll of the short boundaries in Sharjah. When most of the batters struggled to time the ball in the match, Sune Luus batted with a strike-rate of 176.19 to score an unbeaten 37 off 21 with four fours and a six. She made sure that Velocity crossed the line in the end in a thriller of a game.

Records/Personal Milestones

Sushma Verma completed 1000 runs in T20 cricket.

Way Ahead

It is a quick turnaround for Velocity as they face Smriti Mandhana’s Trailblazers on Friday afternoon. Supernovas now get a day rest and they will also face Trailblazers in their final league game on November 7.