NEWS
Follow UsIn the second league match of the Women's T20 Challenge, Harmanpreet Kaur admitted lapses in the field were a major cause of concern for the team and potentially cost them the game against Velocity at the MCA Stadium in Pune.
After a thumping 49-run win against the Trailblazers in the opening match, Supernovas posted 150 for the loss of five wickets in the first innings courtesy of a sublime 71 off 51 deliveries from the skipper.
With the team tottering at 18 for three inside the powerplay, the 32-year old steadied the innings and smashed seven boundaries and three sixes en route to her half-century.
Despite her valiant effort, Velocity registered a comprehensive seven-wicket win mainly due to twin half-centuries from Shafali Verma (51) and Laura Wolvaardt (51*), who guided the team over the line.
"If you drop catches, you can't plan against the batters and it did not help us. The way we started, we had to finish well. We were able to set a decent total, but as I said, you had to field well. The conditions were the same throughout. If you keep giving easy runs, nothing can help you. Yesterday's win was a crucial one. A lot of positives and a lot of areas to improve upon," Harmanpreet said in the post-match interview.
On the other hand, Velocity skipper Deepti Sharma was delighted with the performance of her team and said, "Our team's confidence was pretty good during the practice sessions before the game. The wicket seemed a little slow, and spin was our strength."
"Cross gave us a good start in the powerplay. Sneh Rana taught Cross how to celebrate, and we picked it up afterwards. We planned as a team and gave small plans to every individual. We will look to get better. Shafali's innings and Cross's spell were the turning points," she concluded.
