It is better to have Harmanpreet Kaur in your side than in the opposition - Devine

If the first match of the Women’s T20 Challenge is anything to go by, then remaining games will definitely take fans and followers of the game to the edge.

In a game that was a mix of patience, persistence and power Trailblazers led by Smriti Mandhana defeated Harmanpreet Kaur’s Supernovas by 2 just two runs.

Being put to bat first, Trailblazers’ skipper Smriti Mandhana strugged early on to connect bat with the ball. But her patience to stay on till the end paid rich dividends as she punished Supernovas’ bowlers all over the park for 90 off 67 to propel her team’s total to 140.

Supernovas stumbled in their chase on a wicket that was getting difficult to bat on and in no time found themselves to 74-4 from a healthy 55-1. When Sophie Devine joined Harmanpreet Kaur, they required 66 runs from final seven overs. As the wicket slowed down further, both the power hitters found boundaries difficult to come by as the asking rate rose to almost 10 runs per over.

In the post-match conference, Devine said, "It was disappointing to get so close , I thought we left it a little bit too much for later at the end there. To make 30 off the last three overs on a pitch that was a little bit tricky was asking a bit too much. But, Harmanpreet can do those sort of things and she took us very close to what could have been a great win." 

Devine herself played a quick knock of 32 off 22 in which she hit 2 fours and 2 sixes. It appeared had she had taken Supernovas back on to the track. It was the penultimate over that changed the match completely. Sophie Ecclestone of Trailblazers delivered perfect over in which she dismissed Devine and gave only 2 runs. This incredible performance meant Supernovas needed 19 runs off the final over and their challenge was over.

Harmanpreet went beserk on the experienced Jhulan Goswami in the final over and smashed 3 boundaries in first 4 balls. Needed 7 off last 2 balls, Harmanpreet smashed another boundary on the next ball which landed millimetres inside the boundary rope and that means 3 runs were needed off the last ball. Harmanpreet Kaur failed to connect the final ball which means her super human effort fell short by just 2 runs.