PUNE, May 26: Brilliant knocks by Sabbhineni Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues guided Trailblazers to a 16 runs victory over Velocity in the Women’s T20 Challenge here at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday.
The Trailblazers, despite winning the encounter, couldn’t keep Velocity under 158, and have thus been knocked out of the tournament on the basis of the NRR.
Meghana scored 73 while Rodrigues smashed 66 runs to give their side a comfortable position in the first innings. For Velocity, Simran Bahadur scalped two wickets, and Kate Cross, Sneh Rana, and Ayabonga Khaka took one wicket each.
Trailblazers needed to restrict Velocity within 158 runs to enter the final but they failed as Velocity hit 174/9 in 20 overs.
The final of the Women’s T20 Challenge will be played between Velocity and Supernovas on Saturday at MCA Stadium in Pune.
Chasing 191, Trailblazers enjoyed a good start as their score read 68 for the loss of two wickets inside the first six overs.
Kiran Navgire was then joined by Laura Wolvaardt at the crease as the duo clocked runs at a rapid pace for Velocity who crossed the 100-run mark at the halfway mark.
Debutant Kiran Navgire reached her fifty in the 14th over which was the fastest in the history of the tournament. Unfortunately, wickets kept falling at regular intervals at the other end and in the end, Velocity lost by 16 runs but qualified for the final with a better Net Run Rate (NRR).
Earlier, put in to bat first, Trailblazers scored 190/5 after half centuries by Sabbhineni Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues. (ANI)
