Supernovas stand in the way of high-flying Velocity in their bid for maiden title

One of the most-awaited weekends for the cricketing fans across the globe is finally here as we are heading into the summit clash of the Women's T20 Challenge and the Indian Premier League. 

Over a week of riveting action between the three fascinating sides, we are down to the final game of the Women's T20 Challenge as the Supernovas lock horns against Velocity in an evening encounter on Saturday, May 28, at the MCA Stadium in Pune. 

In the four seasons of the competition, it unearthed a plethora of talent like Shafali Verma and Richa Ghosh, who graduated from franchise cricket to donning the national jersey. And guess what, this edition of the competition has been no different. In the last league match featuring the Trailblazers and Velocity, the world witnessed the exploits of Kiran Navgire, who smashed the fastest half-century in the history of the competition. 

The right-handed batter started the innings in a commanding fashion by smashing a six off the very first delivery she faced in the league to showcase her skills at the highest level.

Despite Velocity falling short by 16 runs, Navgire enthralled the fans with a masterclass on power-hitting and kickstart her dominance in this format. En route to her knock of 69 runs off 34 deliveries, India managed to unearth another star in the making and would be keen to follow her progress in the domestic competition going forward. 

While Velocity would expect her to produce yet another blistering innings, things would be a tad bit difficult this time around for the 27-year-old as she would be up against two quality spinners in the opposition line-up in Sophie Ecclestone and Alana King. 

With a wealth of experience at the international level, the duo will possess a potent threat to Navgire as she targetted the straight boundary and slog-swept the bowlers in the last league match. However, with the ball spinning away from the right-handed batter, her arc of hitting from long-on to deep mid-wicket could lead to her downfall if she tries to strike against the spin. 

It would be interesting to see the tactics deployed by Velocity and Navgire to overcome the middle-overs bowled by two of the best spinners in the international arena and could most definitely decide the outcome of the game. 

Can Radha Yadav counter the Harmanpreet threat?

And as we speak of Navgire and her power-hitting ability, there is another player in the opposition batting unit who can single-handedly take the game away from Velocity. The leading run-scorer in this edition of the Women's T20 Challenge, Harmanpreet Kaur, has scored 108 runs in two innings at an average of 54 and a strike rate of 135 runs. 

The skipper of Supernovas will be the key player for the two-time champions as they set foot on the ground, aiming to end the league on a high with their third title. 

While she has been in sublime form, the 32-year-old will be up against Radha Yadav, who has troubled her in the past with her left-arm spin. Over the years, left-arm spin has been Harmanpreet's Achilles heel, and Radha would look to make optimum use of this and create inroads in the Supernovas batting unit. 

In the three innings, Harmanpreet has been dismissed twice and has an average of 14, and she will be itching to improve on her ability to play the away-going delivery and guide the team over the line. Overall against left-arm orthodox bowlers in T20Is, she has an average of 19.7 and a strike rate of 96, which is the second-worst for her against a bowling type. 

There ain't any doubt that the onus of the side will rely heavily on the shoulders of Harmanpreet Kaur to steady the middle-order and provide the team with much-needed impetus in the back end of the innings. However, if Velocity could challenge her against some left-arm spin early in the innings, there is a high possibility of dismissing her cheaply and wresting control of the game. 

Probable XI: 

Supernovas: Supernovas: Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Taniya Bhatia, Alana King, Chandu V, Deandra Dottin, Harleen Deol, Meghna Singh, Pooja Vastrakar, Priya Punia, Sophie Ecclestone, Sune Luus

Velocity: Velocity: Shafali Verma, Natthakan Chantham, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Laura Wolvaardt, Deepti Sharma (C), Sneh Rana, Kiran Navgire, Radha Yadav, Kate Cross, Ayabonga Khaka, Simran Bahadur