Shafali Verma raises her bat after smashing a brilliant half-century.
Shafali Verma hammered a brilliant 33-ball 51 as Velocity defeated Supernovas by seven wickets in the second match of the Women’s T20 Challenge.
Chasing a stiff target of 151, Velocity rode on Verma’s pyrotechnics with the bat with Laura Wolvaardt playing the sheet anchor role with a 35-ball 51 as Velocity pulled off the highest successful chase in Pune.
Velocity were off to a poor start after Natthakan Chantham was dismissed by Pooja Vastrakar. However, Shafali took charge and blazed away to end the Powerplay on high.
Shafali reached her half-century in quick time, needing only 28 runs to get to the landmark. She did so in style, pulling Deandra Dottin for a boundary over midwicket.
Shafali got out after scoring an aggressive 51 off 33 balls, the successful bowler being Dottin, but the experienced duo of Wolvaardt and Sharma ensured the Velocity were home without much difficulty.
Earlier, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur top-scored with a blistering 51-ball 71 as Supernovas posted 150 for five.
The Velocity opted to bowl after winning the toss and their bowlers appeared to have done a decent job before Harmanpreet’s onslaught.
India’s T20 captain Harmanpreet smashed seven fours and three sixes during her scintillating knock that left the Velocity bowers bruised and battered.
Taniya Bhatia chipped in with a useful knock of 36 off 32 balls.
Bhatia, who is now a part of the Indian women’s senior team, struck three boundaries during her stay in the middle.
The duo of Harmanpreet and Bhatia added invaluable 82 runs for the fourth wicket after their team was reeling at 18 for three in the fourth over.
Down the order, Sune Luss contributed an unbeaten 20 in 14 balls, hitting three fours in her breezy knock.
Among the Velocity bowlers, Kate Cross was the most successful with impressive figures of 2/24 in her quota of four overs, while Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav picked up a wicket apiece, the latter accounting for the important scalp of Harmanpreet.
However, Supernovas still managed to score a decent total in the end and Velocity will have to bat extremely well to reach the target at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.
(Inputs PTI)
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