Women’s IPL 2020: Trailblazers crowned champions - Here are the key takeaways

Captain Smriti Mandhana starred with the bat while Salma Khatun picked up three wickets as Trailblazers beat Supernovas by 16 runs to clinch the Jio Women's T20 Challenge title at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium on Monday.

Needing 119 runs to win, Supernovas lost Chamari Athapaththu early as Sophie Ecclestone trapped her before the wickets to give Trailblazers their first breakthrough. Jemimah Rodrigues and Taniya Bhatia started well, but the Trailblazers spinners tightened their attack, ensuring Harmanpreet Kaur could not rotate the strikes as frequently she could in the two league matches. Kaur waited for the final onslaught for too late, when the required run rate assumed greater size.

Key takeaways from the Women's T20 Challenge 2020

Emergence of a new champion

In the final against the defending champions, Smriti Mandhana scored an impressive 49-ball 68 (Source:IPL/Twitter)

A new team was crowned champion this time with captain Smriti Mandhana doing some heavy lifting. In the final against the defending champions, Mandhana scored an impressive 49-ball 68, but soon after her dismissal in the 15th over, the team went from 101 for 2 to 118 for 8 at the end of the 20th over. Her side, however, countered the poor finish with an excellent start with the ball. They ensured the Supernovas chase ran was restricted, setting the Trailblazers up for a maiden T20 Challenge title triumph. But that the margin of victory was a sizeable 16 runs was largely down to Mandhana's leadership with the bat and in the field, both playing a vital role in reducing the Supernovas. Mandhana's half-century gave her the much-needed confidence boost following an unimpressive World T20 and not playing any competitive cricket since March.

A consistent Harmanpreet Kaur

The resumption of women's cricket saw the Supernovas captain harmanpreet Kaur back in form (Source: Twitter/IPL)

Questions were being raised about Harmanpreet Kaur the captain as well as the batter, who scored 4, 15, 1, 8 and 2 in the 2020 ICC Women's T20 World Cup for India. However, the resumption of women's cricket saw the Supernovas captain back in form with consistently keeping the scoreboard ticking. In the three matches she played, she scored 31, 31, and 30 with a strike rate of over 100 on all the occasions.

Nattakam Chantam

Thai player Nattakam Chantam stunned the internet with her superb fielding effort. (Source: IPL/Twitter)

Nattakam Chantam, the first player from Thailand to play the Women's T20 Challenge for Trailblazers, stunned the internet with her superb fielding effort. The Women's T20 Challenge Final between Trailblazers and Supernovas at Sharjah Cricket Stadium witnessed an outstanding effort of fielding that stunned the internet. Nattakan Chantam had already created history as the first player from Thailand to feature in the Women's T20 Challenge and in the final, she produced a fielding effort that stunned the internet and drew widespread appreciation. In the second over bowled by left-arm orthodox spinner Sophie Ecclestone, the first ball was a flighted delivery wide outside off and Jemimah Rodrigues got an outside edge that rolled to the third man boundary.

However, Nattakan Chantam sprinted and put in a massive dive. She was perpendicular to the ground when she grabbed the ball. She managed to stop it and flick it back as she back-flipped onto the boundary ropes. She landed heavily on her shoulder but she saved a crucial boundary. Her effort won praise on social media, with many hailing this as one of the best fielding efforts they have seen for a very long time, even better than the IPL.

Radha Yadav's best-ever bowling figures

Radha Yadav scripted history as she became the first bowler to take five wickets in Women's T20 Challenge. (Source: IPL/twitter)

Indian left-arm spinner Radha Yadav scripted history on Monday night as she became the first bowler to scalp five wickets in Women's T20 Challenge. Yadav registered the magical figures of 5/16 in her 4-over spell. Yadav took over the field with an outstanding spell. She cleaned up the middle Trailblazers middle-order, striking to pick her first two scalps in the 18th over. She dismissed Deepti Sharma (9) and Richa Ghosh (10) in that over. She owned the record in the final over, getting rid of Sophie Ecclestone (1), Harleen Deol (4) and Jhulan Goswami (1). Her five-wicket haul came as a sigh of relief as Supernovas were able to pull Trailblazers back after Smriti Mandhana had bludgeoned the bowling attack. Radha said she likes being in pressure situations and enjoys bowling in the death overs.

Women's IPL Shaping UP

BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has insisted that BCCI are committed to have a separate IPL for women (Source: IPL/Twitter)

The former India captain and BCCI President Sourav Ganguly has insisted that BCCI are committed to developing women's cricket and are looking to have a separate IPL for women in two years' time. This year, the Women's T20 Challenge was also staged in the UAE with just three teams participating. "At the present moment, there are only three teams in the women's IPL and I believe that in a couple of years' time we will be good enough to have a separate IPL with seven teams, eight teams like the franchise-based teams for the women as well," Ganguly said.