Match 2 – Velocity vs Trailblazers – 5 Wicket from 7 Balls and Danielle Wyatt’s quickfire 46 lands Velocity their Maiden Win

Toss – Won by Velocity and elected to bowl first

1^st Innings Summary – Smriti Mandhana started the innings from where she had left in the match and hit Shikha Pandey for two consecutive fours in the very first over. But the bowler had understood the batter’s mindset well and got the destructive batter caught out by the wicketkeeper on the very first ball of her second over. Trailblazers reached 34-1 at the end of six overs.

Just when opener Suzie Bates and young Harleen Deol’s partnership seemed to be shaping up nicely, India’s spin attack lead Ekta Bisht removed Bates in ninth over. Next to walk-in was West Indian Stafanie Taylor. While on one hand, Harleen was looking in good touch, Taylor was clearly struggling and eventually got caught and bowled by Sushree Pradhan in 14^th over after adding just five runs to the teams total in 18 deliveries.

By the end of 15^th over, the team’s scoreboard read 73-3 and with Deol playing sensible cricket, things seemed to be sorted for Trailblazers until Amelia Kerr’s 18^th over proved to be havoc. First, Deepti Sharma and then (set batter) Harleen Deol were removed on consecutive balls. To follow them was Bharati Fulmali who could not do much in her short-run on the field. Managing only 11 runs in the last two overs, Trailblazers put up a target of 113runs to win for the opponents.

2^nd Innings Summary –

The fielding weaknesses of the Trailblazers were visible from the initial overs as Sophie Ecclestone put down two catches in the first two overs itself. Besides this, she gave away six extra runs as wide in her first over. Batter Shefali Verma made full use of the lifeline gifted to her and hit bowlers for boundaries every now and then. Although Deepti Sharma bowled out Hayley Matthews in 5^th over but Trailblazers were not doing much to defend a small total owing to too many fielding lapses.

The batters were attacking Rajeshwari Gayakwad and hit her for 15 runs in 8^th over. The skipper brought in Harleen Deol to bowl 10^th over and they got the much-neede wicket of Shefali Verma on the very first ball.

Post that, Velocity’s captain Mithali Raj aptly assisted Danielle Wyatt who had completely settled down by then and was playing shots at her will. Raj was dropped twice in 14^th and 17^th over before a dramatic run of fall of wickets started.

With just two runs needed to win from 20 balls, a series of five wickets fell within a space of seven balls without single run being made. Rajeshwari Gayakwad removed Wyatt on the fifth ball of 17^th over. Veda Krishnamurthy got run out on the very first ball she faced as she and Raj both found themselves right in the middle of the pitch in an attempt to steal a single. Next, Deepti Sharma produced one of the craziest overs of women’s cricket as she got three batters bowled out in five balls of the same over exactly in the same fashion.

Lastly, Velocity team felt a sigh of relief on finally reaching the target on the last ball of 18^th over with three wickets still in-hand.

Player of the match – Danielle Wyatt for her 46-run innings off 35 deliveries which included five 4s and two 6s.

Other Remarkable Performances –

1. Harleen Deol (Trailblazers) – 43 runs in 40 balls (Five 4s)
2. Deepti Sharma (Trailblazers) – 4-0-14-4
3. Ekta Bisht (Velocity) – 4-0-13-2
4. Shafali Verma (Velocity) – 34 runs in 31 balls (Five 4s and a six)

Brief scorecard:

Trailblazers – 112/6 (20 overs)

Velocity – 113/7 (18 overs)

Result – Velocity won by 3 wickets

Kanika Parineeta

‘Gully’ cricket player and close observer of Indian Cricket team and it’s matches. Straight forward and still socially admirable personality. Strong belief in teamwork and possess high leadership skills.