Trailblazers will take on Supernovas to seal their berth in the maiden final of Indian Women’s T20 2020. Supernovas suffered a defeat in a last-over thriller against Velocity, and Trailblazers thrashed Velocity by 9 wickets in the next game.
Match Timings: Nov 07, 7:30 PM
Team Preview
Trailblazers and Supernovas play each other to fancy their chances for the final. The defending champions started off the campaign with a 5-wickets loss to Velocity. Supernovas were in a commanding position at one stage, but Sushma Verma and Sune Luus guided Velocity home in a thriller. The defeat came in the last over, so Supernovas can back themselves to win this game to qualify for the final.
The experienced Sri Lankan player Athapaththu scored 44 off 39 balls, and skipper Harman contributed 31, but Supernovas lost the acceleration in the end. They collapsed from 111/3 to 126/8 and fell short of 10 runs, which cost them in the end. In the 2nd innings, they could have grabbed the match early as Velocity required 63 from 7 overs, but Supernovas failed to carry the momentum. The equation is pretty simple for Supernovas as they need a win here and avoid a massive defeat to better their net-run-rate. The defeat will knock them out of the competition.
Meanwhile, the Trailblazers are almost in the final after a remarkable victory in the previous game. If they don’t deliver a blunder on Saturday, they will play in the final. On a challenging track, they thrashed Velocity by bowling them out on this competition's lowest total. Sophie Eccleston conceded just 9 runs in her 3.1 over and picked 4 wickets. Gayakwad and Jhulan both picked 2 wickets each. Mandhana’s unit chased down the target comfortably, riding on Dottin’s gritty 29.
With the win in this game, they will qualify for the finals, and if Trailblazers lose, they need to avoid a big defeat. After achieving a better NRR, Trailblazers will be the first team to feature in the final. They were knocked out due to the weak NRR last year, so Mandhana will surely take this point in mind. Both sides met twice in the tournament before, and both sides have one win each.
Pitch Report
Sharjah's surface is a spinning track, and batting is not easy after back-to-back matches. It’s a night game, so it would be a good scoring game. It’s a wicket of 130-140, and the target can be chased due to the little bit of dew and the short boundaries.
Possible XI
Trailblazers
Smriti Mandhana (c), Deandra Dottin, Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Nattakan Chantam, Salma Khatun, Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Jhulan Goswami
Supernovas
Priya Punia, Chamari Athapaththu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Shashikala Siriwardene, Taniya Bhatia (wk), Pooja Vastrakar, Radha Yadav, Poonam Yadav, Shakera Selman, Ayabonga Khaka
Key Players
Trailblazers
Deandra Dottin
On England tour, 2020 – M: 5, Runs: 185, Avg: 37
Last match – 29 (28)
Sophie Ecclestone
Home summer 2020 – M: 5, Wickets: 6, Avg: 16.17
Last outing: 3.1-1-9-4
Supernovas
Poonam Yadav
WT20 2020 – M: 5, Wickets: 10, Avg: 11.90
Shashikala Siriwardene
WT20 2020 – M: 4, Wickets: 7, Avg: 14.14
