Pune, May 28: West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin starred with both bat and ball as she powered Supernovas to an unprecedented third Women's T20 Challenge title triumph with a four-run win over Velocity in a thrilling final here on Saturday.
Dottin top-scored with a 44-ball 62 at the top of the order to help Supernovas to 165 for seven after being put in to bat. With the ball, she took two wickets for 28 runs in her four overs to play a major role in restricting Velocity to 161 for eight.
South African batter Laura Wolvaardt almost single-handedly took Velocity within striking distance of a sensational win with a blazing 65 not out off 40 balls, which included five fours and three sixes.
Wolvaardt, who became the only batter in the tournament to score two half centuries, launched a ferocious onslaught in the death overs with a flurry of boundaries to raise hopes of a stunning victory for Velocity.
Number 10 batter Simran Bahadur (20 not out off 10 balls) also chipped with three successive fours in the penultimate over. Velocity needed 17 runs from the final over but left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone (2/28) conceded just 12 runs to win the match despite Wolvaardt hitting a six off the first ball.
If Englishwoman Ecclestone made life difficult for Velocity batters in the first half of the run chase, Australian leg-spinner Alana King (3/32) did the same in the back end. King was on a hat-trick after dismissing Sneh Rana and Radha Yadav off consecutive balls in the 16th over.
Supernovas had won the first two editions of the tournament in 2018 and 2019 before losing to Trailblazers in the final in 2020. The tournament was not held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Velocity had finished runners-up in 2019.
Velocity made a blazing start to their run chase with openers Shafali Verma (15) and Yastika Bhatia (3) scoring 28 runs in the first two overs but that proved to be the only time the Deepti Sharma-led side was ahead in the match.
They suffered a batting collapse with half of them back in the hut for 64 runs in the 11th over. They were reduced to 38 for three, and things got only worse from there.
Earlier, Dottin made full use of an early reprieve to score a blistering half-century and propel Supernovas.
The 30-year-old Dottin was dropped on 13 by Sneh Rana off Deepti Sharma in the fourth over, and she made Velocity pay for that costly mistake by making 62 off 44 balls, which was studded with one four and four sixes.
The experienced campaigner stitched 73 runs for the opening wicket with Priya Punia (28) and added 58 for the second wicket with in-form captain Harmanpreet Kaur (43 off 29 balls).
For Velocity, captain Deepti Sharma, Kate Cross and Simran Bahadur took two wickets apiece, while Ayabonga Khaka got one. The Supernovas could only score 34 runs in the last five overs while losing five wickets.
Dottin and Punia gave the Supernovas a flying start, scoring at a brisk pace and reaching 46 for no loss in the powerplay.
Punia hit a six off Cross in the third over but her partner Dottin did even better, smashing consecutive maximums in the sixth over bowled by Rana. Punia was going strong when she got out in the 10th over bowled by Simran Bahadur, after smashing a six.
Captain Kaur, the tournament's highest scorer, came out and straightaway began collecting the runs, hitting a six off Rana in the 12th over and following it up with two maximums in the 14th over bowled by Yadav. In the next over, Velocity captain Deepti struck as she bowled Dottin.
The Supernovas suffered a batting collapse in the death overs as they lost four wickets for the addition of just 11 runs.
Pooja Vastrakar (5) was cleaned up by Ayabonga Khaka in the 17th over before Cross claimed two wickets -- that of Kaur and Sophie Ecclestone (2) -- in the space of three balls in the next over.
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No stubble burning now, why air pollution crisis in Delhi: Mann takes dig at BJP
Chandigarh (PTI): Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday slammed the BJP saying its leaders used to "defame" Punjab farmers over stubble burning and blame them for Delhi's poor air quality and questioned why is there pollution crisis in national capital despite no farm fires now.
Mann said that as soon as paddy harvest takes place, BJP leaders blame Punjab and its farmers for Delhi's poor air quality.
He said they used to claim that stubble burning by Punjab farmers causes Delhi's pollution.
Mann said at present, the Air Quality Index in major Punjab cities is between 70 and 130.
"At present, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500 and no smoke is coming from Punjab. But the situation in Delhi is worse. At least now they should agree that there is no role of Punjab for Delhi's poor air quality," Mann said in a video message.
Mann's remarks came on a day Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa apologised for the air pollution crisis in the national capital and acknowledged its impact on children's health.
Sirsa, however, asserted that it was the result of the policies pursued by the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi.
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Last month, the BJP had trashed the Punjab CM's previous claim that stubble burning in the state has no role in the high levels of air pollution in Delhi as "ridiculous".
Dismissing Mann's claim, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva had last month said it is certain that stubble burning is a "major" factor (for the air pollution in Delhi).
Meanwhile, Mann in his video message said, due to severe floods which Punjab witnessed this year, paddy harvesting got delayed, "despite this, many Delhi ministers had already started blaming Punjab".
"I want to praise Punjab farmers, NGOs and efforts of the Punjab government have also paid off in controlling stubble burning this time. The cases of stubble burning in Punjab have reduced by 70-80 per cent and this has been acknowledged by the Central Government and the Union Agriculture Minister," Mann said.
The CM further said that after paddy harvest even the wheat crop has been sown and now, there is no incident of stubble burning.
He said BJP leaders used to claim that Punjab's smoke from stubble travels to Delhi.
"Now, there is no stubble burning, but Delhi is facing very poor air quality. This proves that earlier too Punjab's smoke had no role for Delhi's poor air quality. Only accusations were made by the BJP to defame Punjab. At least now the Centre should praise the farmers of Punjab," he said.
"Meanwhile, Delhi's AQI is between 450 and 500, flights are being cancelled, and breathing has become difficult," said Mann.
He asked both the BJP government in Delhi and the BJP led Centre to address Delhi's air pollution, saying citizens cannot even venture out for a walk due to air pollution.
He also asked the BJP that Punjab should not be dragged into this political battle, instead, Punjab's farmers should be appreciated, and the Delhi and Central governments should focus on addressing Delhi's air pollution.
Mann further said that farmers of Punjab are 'anndatas' (food providers) and they meet the country's food needs, they should not be defamed.
