Women’s T20 Challenge 2020: Mandhana’s Trailblazers lift maiden title with convincing win

Supernovas and Trailblazers came into the final of the 2020 Women’s T20 Challenge having played a last-ball thriller in the last game of the league stage. Even this game was expected to be a close one with a title at stake and it sure looked like one.

Supernovas captain Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and asked the Trailblazers to bat first, who happily obliged. Their skipper Smriti Mandhana led from the front, taking the attack to the opposition leaving them stunned. She raced away to the 40s with the opening stand scoring 71 runs in 11.1 overs. Her partner Deandra Dottin struggled in the middle mustering only 20 off 32 balls.

Mandhana’s knock crucial

But Mandhana’s earlier fireworks kept the team going and those runs proved to be crucial for the Trailblazers in the end. She was looking set to score a big one taking the game deep. But she got out on 68 off 49 balls in the 15th over and this is where the Supernovas came back stunningly. They picked seven wickets off the last 31 balls conceding only 17 runs. Trailblazers could only manage to post 118/8 in their 2 overs.

Radha Yadav was the best bowler for Supernovas picking her first T20 five-wicket haul and returning figures of 5/16 in her four overs.

The chase was not going to be easy on a slow pitch for the Supernovas and it proved the same way. To make things worse, Chamari Athapaththu got out early thanks to the excellent Sophie Ecclestone and from here on, the Supernovas never had the momentum in the innings. There were partnerships in the middle with Harmanpreet at the other end but there was no pace to the chase whatsoever.

Trailblazers’ spinners kept bowling tight lines and eventually restricted defending champions Supernovas 16 runs short of the target to win their maiden title.

Turning Point

Harmanpreet Kaur’s injury and wicket – Seldom does it happen that Harmanpreet stays in the middle right till the end and her team loses. But Trailblazers bowled well on the day to do so. An injury to Kaur in the 12th over also played a role in her playing slowly and never going for the big shot. It ultimately affected her running as she was seen limping right through. Despite the obvious struggle, Harmanpreet backed herself to take the game deep and then go for the big shots. But when she tried to go for a big one, Salma Khatun got the better off her to seal the deal eventually.