Preview: The Final - Supernovas vs Velocity

Harmanpreet Kaur vs Mithali Raj.



It is a big occasion and it will need big players to rise to it. The occasion is the grand finale of the Women's T20 Challenge which will take place at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium at Jaipur.



In the triangular series, Supernovas, Trailblazers and Velocity all won 1 match each and ended on the same points. The finalists had to be decided on the net run rate.



Supernovas beat Velocity in the last round-robin game to quality for the final. The same teams will meet again in the final where Velocity will be looking to avenge the defeat in the last game.



Supernovas will take confidence from Jemimah Rodrigues' 48 ball 77 but they will also have to ensure that rest of the batting clicks off as well. Their openers Priya Punia and Chamari Atapattu have failed to give a good, fast start to the Supernovas and similar to the last two games, the pressure on the middle order piled up to put up a competitive total.



Velocity on the other hand their own batting problems to sort. Their overseas opener Hayley Matthews hasn't put up scores which justifies her reputation. They will depend on 15-year old Shafali Verma to make a significant contribution at the top. Danni Wyatt has been the only Velocity batter to have consistently scored in both the matches. It was Wyatt's wicket that had triggered the collapse in both the matches.



Velocity will take some heart from the fact that Mithali Raj and Veda Krishnamurthy built a solid 53-run partnership in the losing cause and will be hoping both the batters to live up to the big occasion.



In the bowling department for Velocity's bowling and in particular Shikha Pandey that has shone in the tournament. For Supernovas their bowling attack hasn't been able to deliver so far despite having some fearsome bowlers in their ranks. It was the leggie Poonam Yadav's incredible spell turned the previous match in favour of Supernovas.



Harmanpreet Kaur has plenty of bowling options at her disposal as they won the previous match despite World's fastest bowler Lea Tahuhu did not bowl a single over in it. Velocity will hoping for their bowling attack to back Pandey and Bisht and contain Supernovas as much as they can.



Players to watch out for:



Supernovas has rich talent at their disposal with almost any of the players can turn the match on their own. But according to the form, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Sophie Devine are the key players. Natalie Sciver will be hoping to come up with some magic tricks up her sleeve.



Velocity will need Wyatt and Matthews to fire all cylinders and will be hoping for the skipper Raj to play the pivotal role using all her experience.



It is going to be exciting match none the less with Supernovas having edge over Velocity.



Teams:



Supernovas: Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Anuja Patil, Arundhati Reddy, Jemimah Rodrigues, Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, Priya Punia, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (wk)



Overseas players: Sophie Devine (New Zealand), Natalie Sciver (England), Chamari Athapaththu (Sri Lanka), Lea Tahuhu (New Zealand)



Coach: WV Raman



Velocity: Mithali Raj (c), Devika Vaidya, Ekta Bisht, Komal Zhanzad, Shafali Verma, Shikha Pandey, Sushma Verma (wk), Sushree Dibyadarshini, Veda Krishnamurthy.



Overseas Players: Amelia Kerr (New Zealand), Danielle Wyatt (England), Hayley Matthews (West Indies), Jahanara Alam (Bangladesh)



Coach: Mamta Maben



The match will start at 7.30 pm. (IST).