South African Sune Luus conjured 37 unbeaten under pressure as Velocity overcame a nervous start to stun the defending champion Supernovas by five wickets in the opening match of the Women’s T20 Challenge here on Wednesday.
Chasing a modest 127, Velocity had 38 for three within nine overs, but Luus led them over the line with his quiet 37-run head that came off 21 balls with four fours and six.
Luus also shared a crucial 51-run position with Sushma Verma (34) to repair innings after initial setbacks.
The Velocity bowlers, led by left bowler Ekta Bisht (3/22) had restricted Supernovae to 126/8 after choosing to bowl.
South African mid-pace Ayabonga Khaka (2/27) gave Supernovas the perfect start by firing starters Dani Wyatt (0) and the gifted Shafali Verma (17).
Shafali had ignited the modest chase by breaking a limits hat-trick against Khaka.
But Khaka rallied to fire the talented Indian hitter after she threw one straight into the middle of the field.
Captain Mithali Raj then fell victim to Siriwardene after seven 19-ball slowdowns, as Veda Krishnamurthy (29) and Sushma were left to keep them on the hunt. Six with a clean impact screen to reduce running speed.
However, he could not take them to the other side of the line that fell to Poonam Yadav in the penultimate over.
Needing nine runs from the last finish, Luus sealed the chase on the penultimate ball with two limits.
Velocity will face the Trailblazers on Thursday.
Previously, apart from the effort of Ekta Bisht, New Zealand spinner Leigh Kasperek (2/23) and medium pace Jahanara Alam (2/27 also contributed to put down the champions.
Jahanara fired key hitters, Harmanpreet Kaur (31) and Chamara Atapattu (44), to derail the Supernova. with Veda Krishnamurthy taking the skier calm head in the long run.
Later, Jahanara fired Harmanpreet for 31 after the Indian skipper holed in the short and fine stretch. It triggered a meltdown when the defending champions lost four wickets over 15 races.
Chamari hit two sixes and two limits on a 44 of 39 balls, while Harmanpreet hit two sixes and a limit. Velocity made some initial breakthroughs with its spinning duo of Leigh Kasperek and Ekta Bisht firing Priya Punia (11) and Jemimah Rodrigues (7) within eight overs.
But Supernova took control at the rear with Chamari breaking free against Manali Dakshini. The Sri Lanka T20 skipper hit Manali inside out on cover and in the next over he threw Kasperek over the middle of the deep gate for his second six to get the race pace up.
But Chamari fell behind six half-century races as the Supernovae failed to shift gears afterward.
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