After winning the final of the Women’s T20 Challenge by 16 races against the Supernovae, Trailblazers captain Smriti Mandhana said that Salma Khatun’s four overs were the spell to win the match for her team.
Supernovas were unable to chase a 119-run goal as the side was restricted to 102/7 in the allotted twenty overs, giving the Trailblazers a 16-run win. For Supernovas, Harmanpreet Kaur scored better with a 30-run hit, while for the Trailblazers, Salma Khatun took three wickets while Deepti Sharma started two wickets.
This is the first time the Trailblazers have won the Women’s T20 Challenge. The other two titles were won by Supernovas in 2018 and 2019.
“It was an incredible bowling effort, especially the fielding effort, there were two or three brilliant fielding performances. I knew wicket was tough to hit so I knew 120 would be a fight total, in the back of my mind I knew we’d have a good chance if we posted a score of 115-120. “ Mandhana said during the post-match virtual press conference.
“Salma Khatun was brilliant. Those kinds of spells make you win the game and those four overs, she cast the last four overs for us, she got all her experience, she was just telling her to use the experience she has. His spell was a winning spell “ she added.
Previously, the Trailblazers had posted a total of 118/8 in the twenty assigned overs, due to a 68-run hit from Smriti Mandhana.
For Supernovas, Radha Yadav had taken five wickets and, as a result, became the first player to take a five wicket round in the Women’s T20 Challenge.
“I think it was an incredible performance, the team was brilliant. He was also timing the ball very well in the last game, but he was finding the fielders. So in the final, it was a conscious effort to put the ball in the holes, that was the only thing I was thinking about. I knew the wicket was tough so I was just trying to get the score to 130-140, but somewhere we lost track,Mandhana said.
“I did not face Radha much, I only faced her in the power play, she has been in good shape. When a bowler is in shape, you try to take a single and get out of strike. We just told everyone to respect the bowler who is in shape that day. Even last year we had a great time playing the Women’s T20 Challenge, this year we were also looking to play the tournament, the last six months have been tough for the world, it was worth coming here and playing, thanks to BCCI for organizing this tournament “ she added.
