Women's IPL 2020: Supernovas vs Velocity - Team Preview, Probable XI, Where to watch, Pitch Report

The much awaited Women’s T20 has finally arrived with the first match of its third edition to get underway later today. The last year finalists Supernovas and Velocity will take on each other at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium today evening.

Just like the IPL, the Women’s T20 Challenge provides the players a great platform to showcase their talent to the world. There has been a lot of buzz surrounding the mini tournament this year, with the BCCI even collaborating with Twitter India to launch custom emojis as well. Here, we bring to you every detail you need to know about this year’s inaugural match of Women’s T20 Challenge:

Match Detail

Who? Supernovas v/s Velocity

Time: 7:30pm IST

Where? Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Pitch Report

The earlier phase of IPL witnessed scores above 200 in almost all the matches. The ground was a nightmare for the bowlers with batsmen hitting boundaries for fun, but that’s a thing of past now. The pitches at Sharjah have slowed down considerably since then and anything around 160 would be enough for a win. Dew also has played a crucial role and it might be a headache for the team which wins the toss to decide what to do.

Team News

Supernovas

The champions of both the previous seasons, Supernovas will undoubtedly start the tournament as firm favourites. The team led by Harmanpreet Kaur looks the very settled and dangerous on paper. With a batting lineup consisting of the Srilankan Chamari Atapattu, the talented Jemimah Rodrigues and the skipper herself, they can take the game away from any opposition in a matter of minutes. Add to that a strong spin department of Poonam Yadav, Shashikala Sriwardene, Anuja Patil and Radha Yadav; the Supernovas possess the ability to completely blow their opponents on any given day.

Strengths: Their spin unit is probably the best in the tournament. With the pitches in Sharjah expected to be slow, the spin quartet of Poonam Yadav, Shashikala Sriwardene, Anuja Patil and Radha Yadav might prove to be highly dangerous. The batting department too seems pretty strong on paper and the onus will be on the experienced Chamari Atapattu and Harmanpreet Kaur to deliver the goods.

Weakness: The pace department, even with the presence of Shakera Selman and Ayabonga Khaka, looks a bit depleted. If the pacers can play the role of supporting cast well, then it would be extremely difficult to defeat this Supernovas Team.

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: The Supernovas are expected to open with the left right combination of Priya Punia and Chamari Atapattu, followed by Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur with Taniya Bhatia taking the gloves. Anuja Patil looks like the one from the spin department to miss out and it might be a direct toss-up between Arundati Reddy and Pooja Vastrakar to partner Shakera Selman and Ayabonga Khaka in the pace department. The youngsters, Ayushi Soni and Muskan Malik would be the others to miss out.

Priya Punia, Chamari Atapattu, Jemimah Rodrigues, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Taniya Bhatia (wk), Shashikala Sriwardene, Radha Yadav, Arundati Reddy/ Pooja Vastrakar, Shakera Selman, Poonam Yadav, Ayabonga Khaka.

Also read: Women’s IPL 2020: Women’s cricket suffer due to poor planning

Velocity

The finalists of previous edition, Velocity will be itching for the revenge against their nemesis Supernovas. Led by Mithali Raj, the team consists of some of the most fearsome batswomen in world cricket. Backed up with some very experienced bowlers, Velocity can give any team a run for their money.

Strengths: The opening combination of Shafali Verma and Danielle Wyatt is undoubtedly the most feared one in this tournament. Add to that the firepower of Veda Krishnamurthy and Sune Luus their batting order becomes a different dynamic beast all together. They have some highly experienced bowlers in Ekta Bisht, Leigh Kasperek and Shikha Pandey who can turn the game on its head under pressure.

Weakness: With high risk comes equally good chance for failure and risk is their batswomen’s first name. If their fearsome and aggressive approach with the bat doesn’t come off, the pressure will all be on the skipper Mithali Raj to come up with the goods singlehandedly.

Full squad: Mithali Raj (captain) Veda Krishnamurthy (VC), Shafali Verma, Sushma Verma (WK), Ekta Bisht, Meghna Joshi, Shikha Pandey, Devika Vaidya, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Manali Dakshini, Leigh Kasperek, Danielle Wyatt, Suné Luus, Jahanara Alam, M. Anagha.

Expected XI: Velocity has a sure shot opening combination with Shafali Verma and Danielle Wyatt. They will be followed by the skipper Mithali Raj, Veda Krishamurthy and Devika Vaidya with Sushma Verma donning the gloves. In the bowling department Ekta Bisht, Shikha Pandey, Jahanara Alam and Leigh Kasperek are an automatic pick. The young Anagha Murali might also get a look in.

Shafali Verma, Danielle Wyatt, Mithali Raj (c), Devika Vaidya, Veda Krishnamurthy, Sushma Verma, Shikha Pandey, Anagha Murali, Leigh Kasperek, Ekta Bisht, Jahanara Alam.

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 Shafali Verma broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record