Women's IPL 2020 Final: Can Trailblazers stop Supernovas from a three-peat in a battle of spin?

The Women’s T20 Challenge will come to a close today with the in-form Trailblazers taking on the defending champions Supernovas at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. The mini tournament has been a thrilling one with two out of three matches going down the wire to decide the winner.

While the Supernovas started the tournament as the heavyweights, the Trailblazers started off as the underdogs. Both the teams have played some good cricket in the tournament with both winning one and losing one match.

If the Supernovas have their batswomen, Chamari Atapattu and Harmanpreet Kaur, taking up the top two spots in the highest run-getters column, the Trailblazers have their bowlers, Sophie Ecclestone and Jhulan Goswami, leading the bowling charts in the tournament.

The league stage match between them was a thriller with the Harmanpreet led Supernovas holding their nerves in the last ball to win the match and book a spot in the final. In what is expected to be a battle of spin, expect nothing different this time.

Match Details

Who? Trailblazers v/s Supernovas

Time: 7:30pm IST

Where? Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Pitch Report

As seen in all the previous matches of the tournament, the pitch is expected to play slow and will assist the spinners. The highest score batting first in the tournament is 146 and it was more importantly defended in a thrilling match, which gives a sense that anything above 150 would be more than enough in the final. With the presence of dew predicted in the second innings coupled with the big match pressure, expect the captain winning the toss to bat first.

Team News

Trailblazers

The Trailblazers completely wrecked Velocity in their first match of the tournament, winning the match by 9 wickets and more than 12 overs to spare. They were cruising in their last match as well before Radha Yadav closed things off for Supernovas in the final over of last league match of the tournament. They have nothing to worry as such, though they would hope to get some more runs from the bat of skipper Smriti Mandhana.

Strengths

The spin quartet of Sophie Ecclestone, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Salma Khatun and Deepti Sharma were unplayable in their match against Velocity. With the pitch likely to play slow expect them to bounce back hard after a poor outing in the last match. If the spinners along with Jhulan Goswami are able to create inroads in the Supernovas lineup, it could be an easy win for them. The form of Deepti Sharma and Harleen Deol with the bat could also give the Deandra Dottin and Mandhana some breathing space.

Weakness

The inexperience of the Trailblazers middle order was there to see as they failed to close out a match from the winning position in the last match they played. Though she scored 30 odd runs in the previous match, Smriti Mandhana has not looked at her best so far in the tournament. With a brittle middle order to follow, it is very necessary for the openers – Dottin and Mandhana, to play out at least the first 8-10 overs at a brisk pace without losing any wicket.

Full Squad

Smriti Mandhana (captain), Deepti Sharma (VC), Punam Raut, Richa Ghosh, D. Hemalatha, Nuzhat Parween (WK), Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Harleen Deol, Jhulan Goswami, Simaran Dil Bahadur, Salma Khatun, Sophie Ecclestone, Natthakan Chantham, Deandra Dottin, Kashvee Gautam.

Expected XI

There is nothing much to read into their loss against the Supernovas in the previous match. It was a clean game before they choked in the final over to let it slip away. No changes expected.

Smriti Mandhana (c), Deandra Dottin , Richa Ghosh (wk), Harleen Deol, Deepti Sharma, Dayalan Hemalatha, Jhulan Goswami, Sophie Ecclestone, Salma Khatun, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Natthakan Chanthman.

Also read: Women’s IPL 2020: Supernovas beat Trailblazers in a last-ball thriller, Both reach final

Supernovas

The all-rounder Radha Yadav came to their rescue in a final ball thriller yet again in the previous match, albeit with the ball this time. Radha had previously hit a final ball boundary through the covers during the final ball of the last season to help the Supernovas lift the title for the second consecutive time. They qualified for the final from the brink of an early elimination and would now be hungry for a three-peat.

Strengths

Chamari Atapattu and Harmanpreet Kaur have scored runs for fun in this tournament and both of them sit comfortably at the top of the run scorers leaderboard. They would yet again bank on their two most experienced batswomen to do the heavy lifting with the bat while others bat around them. They have the unique ability of making a match out of any total and delivering under pressure which should hold them in a good stead going into the final.

Weakness

Their spin department of Poonam Yadav, Radha Yadav, Sashikala Sriwardene and Anuja Patil looked the best on paper before the start of the tournament. But, they have failed to deliver as a unit. Though, Radha and Patil did well in the previous match, both Poonam and Sriwardene have looked off colour. Add to this two single digit scores from vice-captain Jemimah Rodrigues, Supernovas have some big problems to take care off.

Full Squad

Harmanpreet Kaur (captain), Jemimah Rodrigues (VC), Chamari Atapattu, Priya Punia, Anuja Patil, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia (WK), Shashikala Siriwardene, Poonam Yadav, Shakera Selman, Arundhati Reddy, Pooja Vastrakar, Ayushi Soni, Ayabonga Khaka, Muskan Malik.

Expected XI

Don’t change a winning combination is a frequently used catchphrase in cricket and expect the Supernovas to follow the same. They would back and hope that the experienced trio of Jemimah, Poonam and Sriwardene up their game in the most important match of the tournament.

Priya Punia, Chamari Atapattu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shashikala Sriwardene, Radha Yadav, Anuja Patil, Shakera Selman, Poonam Yadav, Ayabonga Khaka.

Where to watch?

The matches will be broadcasted in the Star Sports network on TV and can also be streamed online on Disney + Hotstar, if you have the subscription.

Also read: When Smriti Mandhana scored a double century in a limited over match