Velocity rode of half-centuries by opener Shafali Verma and Laura Wolvaardt to defeat the Supernovas by seven wickets in the Women’s T20 Challenge match at the MCA Stadium, Pune on Tuesday. 

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Chasing 151 runs, Verma brought up the fastest half-century in the tournament’s history. The 18-year-old brought her fifty in 31 balls before falling to a one-handed stunner by Supernovas captain Harmanpreet Kaur. She scored 51 in 33 balls with the help of nine fours and one maximum. 

The run-chase, with 10 balls to spare, was the highest in Women’s T20 Challenge history. 

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After Shafali Verma’s breezy knock Laura Wolvaard (51 off 35 balls) and Deepti Sharma (24 not out) saw their side home comfortably.

In the first innings, Harmanpreet Kaur top-scored with a blistering 51-ball 71. The Indian T20 skipper hit seven boundaries and three maximums. Taniya Bhatia chipped in with a useful knock of 36 off 32 balls.

The duo of Harmanpreet and Bhatia added invaluable 82 runs for the fourth wicket after their team was reeling at 18 for three in the fourth over.

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“If you drop catches, you can’t plan against the batters. That didn’t 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 same throughout. If you keep giving easy runs, nothing can help you. Yesterday’s win was a crucial one. Lot of positives and lot of areas to improve upon,” Kaur said after the game. 

Among the Velocity bowlers, Kate Cross was the most successful with impressive figures of 2/24 in her quota of four overs, while Deepti Sharma and Radha Yadav picked up a wicket apiece, the latter accounting for the important scalp of Harmanpreet.

However, Supernovas still managed to score a decent total in the end and Velocity will have to bat extremely well to reach the target at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium.