Velocity Beat Supernovas In Women's T20 Challenge Opener

Sune Luus's unbeaten 37 and Sushma Verma's 34 handed Velocity a five-wicket win over Supernovas in the first match of the Women's T20 Challenge at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium here on Wednesday. Sushma and Luus were involved in a crucial 51-run stand.

After asking Supernovas to bat, Velocity restricted them to 126/8 wickets in the allotted 20 overs and later finished at 129/5 wickets in 19.5 overs to come out victorious.

Chasing the target, Velocity lost Danielle Wyatt (0) early in the innings as Ayabonga Khaka (2/27) drew the first blood.

Khaka struck again in the third over, accounting for the wicket of Shafali Verma (17).

Skipper Mithali Raj (7) and Veda Krishnamurthy (29) tried to repair the damage with a brief 21-run stand before Shashikala Siriwardene (1/30) packed back the former in the ninth over.

Twenty-seven runs later, Veda too, departed, leaving her side at 65/4 in 13 overs.

Sushma and Luus then took control of the proceedings and took their side past the three-digit mark in 16.4 overs.

It seemed the pair would then steer their side home quite comfortably but Poonam Yadav (1/27) bought a twist in the game, sending back a well-settled Sushma in the 19th over with Velocity still 10 runs short of the target.

A couple of boundaries in the final over by Luus ensured Velocity crossed the line with a ball and five wickets to spare.

Earlier, Velocity restricted Supernovas at 126/8 in the allotted 20 overs. Put into bat, Supernovas rode opener Chamari Athapaththu and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's valiant 44 and 31 runs to post a fighting total on board.

Apart from the duo, Shashikala Siriwardene and Priya Punia contributed with 18 and 11 runs.

Veteran spinner Ekta Bisht starred for Velocity after returning with figures of 3/22 while Bangladesh pacer Jahanara Alam and New Zealand's Leigh Kasparek scalped two wickets each.

Brief scores: Velocity 129/5 wkts in 19.5 overs (Sune Luus 37, Sushma Verma 34; Ayabonga Khaka 2/27) beat Supernovas 126/8 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 44, Harmanpreet Kaur 31; Ekta Bisht 3/22) by 5 wickets