A convincing win in the end. It was set up Ecclestone's 4 for 9 which saw Velocity fold for a paltry 47. Velocity's Net Run Rate takes a beating. Trailblazers go top of the table with two points and a NRR of +3.905. Velocity's NRR is -1.869. That would be all from our side. Thanks for joining us.
Deandra Dottin: "I just wanted to get the runs quickly because cricket is a funny game. There could be a spot where you will have to go through on net run rate. Talking to my friends back home, watching Netflix, that’s all what I have been doing during the lockdown. We will rest up a bit before playing our next game."
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Ekta continues. Dottin targets the deep mid-wicket boundary and gets four. Follows it up with a single to long-on. Ghosh takes Trailblazers over the line with a maximum. Trailblazers win by nine wickets.
Sushree Dibyadarshini, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. Dottin cuts it away for three. Ghosh ends the over with a boundary. Nine runs off it. Trailblazers 37/1 after 7 Overs. Just 11 needed to win now.
Ekta Bisht, Left arm orthodox, comes into the attack. Dottin hammers that away for four. Pure power. Goes down on one knee and sweeps it away. Dottin retains strike again with a single. Seven off the over. Trailblazers 28/1 after 6 Overs.
Shikha Pandey into her third. In the slot, Dottin swings hard and gets a boundary - the ball falling between the two converging fielders at deep mid-wicket before rolling over the fence. Dottin pulls one away for a couple. She keeps strike with a single. Nine off the over. Trailblazers 21/1 after 5 Overs.
Kasperek continues. Mandhana slogs one towards deep mid-wicket for a single. Both openers are itching to break the shackles. Good Powerplay bowling from Velocity so far. The pressure tells! WICKET! Smriti holes out. Richa Ghosh comes to the crease. Trailblazers 12/1 after 4 Overs.
Pandey to continue. Close! Dottin is eyeing that long-on boundary. But with the pitch on the slower side and Pandey taking pace off the ball, big shots are proving hard to come by. A single to end the over. Three off it. Trailblazers 10/0 after 3 Over s.
Leigh Kasperek, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. Mandhana gets off the mark with a delightful late cut for
four a single. Beautiful shot. No slip in place for the left-hander. Mandhana takes a single, gets Dottin on strike. Kasperek is offering no pace whatsoever. Dottin is looking to attack here. Good over. Three off it.
Trailblazers 7/0 after 2 Overs.
Dottin will take strike. Shikha Pandey with the new ball. Dottin has made her intentions clear. She isn't going to hang around for the ones and twos. Four off the first over. Trailblazers 4/0 after 1 Over.
Smriti Mandhana and Deandra Dottin walk out to the middle. You'd imagine this will be a walk in the park for the Trailblazers. But stranger things have happened in cricket.
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Ecclestone: We've had a long time training, and the Indian girls were really looking forward to playing. It's great to have some cricket here. [On her gameplan] It was skidding, and the idea was to keep the stumps in play and keep it straight. Just looked to keep it simple. Hopefully, we can get these runs in eight overs.
Ecclestone picked four while Jhulan Goswami and Rajeshwari Gayakwad shared four wickets between them as Velocity folded for a paltry 47. Trailblazers need 48 to win!
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Khatun to continue. Two runs off that over. Ecclestone traps Jahanara in front. Velocity have been bundled out for just 47! Let that sink in. Four wickets for Ecclestone. 3.1-1-9-4 - her figures.
Deepti to bowl out. Nine down! Bisht departs. Jahanara Alam, right handed bat, comes to the crease. Just a single and a wicket off that over. Deepti's figures 4-1-8-1. Velocity 45/9 after 14 Overs.
Salma Khatun, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. More spin. Ekta Bisht has joined Kasperek. Just a two runs from that over. Velocity 44/8 after 13 Overs.
Deepti continues. Jesus. Complete breakdown in communication leads to another wicket - a run out. Shikha departs. This has been a complete shambles. Four runs and a wicket. Velocity 42/8 after 12 Overs.
FOUR! Stop the press. Velocity have scored a boundary at last. Kasperek gets one away - a premeditated sweep off Gayakwad's bowling past fine leg for four. Make that two in one over - Shikha, this time - through square of the wicket for four. Much-needed runs. 11 off it in the end. Velocity 38/7 after 11 Overs.
A double wicket maiden followed by a maiden. This is terrific bowling by the Trailblazers. Their spinners have effectively put the chokehold. Six dots for Deepti. Her figures - 2-1-3-0. Velocity 27/7 after 10 Overs.
Rajeshwari strikes! Luus is out, caught & bowled. Strategic time-out. Sushree Dibyadarshini, right handed bat, has been adjudged lbw first ball. She reviews but it's three reds. Another one bites the dust. Leigh Kasperek, right handed bat, comes to the crease. A doule wicket maiden. Velocity 27/7 after 9 Overs.
Deepti Sharma, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. Spin from both ends. Three singles from Deepti's first. Velocity 27/5 after 8 Overs.
Rajeshwari Gayakwad, left arm orthodox, comes into the attack. More spin. Velocity need to find a way out of this rut. Good start by Gayakwad. Just two off it in the end. Velocity 24/5 after 7 Overs.
Ecclestone, you beauty. Cleans up Sushma. Ecclestone and Jhulan are chipping away at the Velocity batting line-up. Shikha Pandey, right handed bat, comes to the crease. One run and a wicket. Velocity 22/5 after 6 Overs.
Goswami into her third. Trailblazers all over Velocity at the moment. GONE ! Wyatt holes out. Sune Luus, right handed bat, comes to the crease. Two runs and a wicket off it in the end. Velocity 21/4 after 5 Overs.
Ecclestone continues. WICKET ! Mithali has been trapped in front. Big wicket for the Trailblazers. Great start this by Mandhana's team. GONE ! Veda Krishnamurthy is clean bowled first ball. Sushma Verma, right handed bat, comes to the crease. What an over. A double wicket maiden. Velocity 19/3 after 4 Overs.
Goswami continues. Wyatt works one towards point and takes off for a single. WICKET ! Jhulan cleans up Shafali. Velocity have lost their first wicket. Mithali Raj comes to the crease. One legend to another. The ball's already starting to keep low here. Mithali opens her account with a single. No-ball. Free hit coming up . Wyatt on strike. Jhulan delivers a wide yorker. Dot ball. Three runs and a wicket. Velocity 19/1 after 3 Overs.
Left arm orthodox Sophie Ecclestone comes into the attack, first signs of spin. A dot followed by a single for Shafali. A single for Wyatt. This has been a quiet start from the Velocity openers, so far. Hello there - SIX! Shafali has hit the first maximum of the match, over long-off. Velocity 14/0 after 2 Overs.
Shafali Verma and Dani Wyatt to start the innings. Shafali will take strike. Jhulan Goswami to take the new ball. No slip in place. A dot to start the over. Shafali dances down the track, the leading edge races to third-man. One run taken. Wyatt now - gets off the mark with a streaky single. FOUR ! No-ball . Free hit coming up. Shafali gets one away - through sweeper cover for four. Meanwhile, the free hit costs Jhulan just one run. A dot to end the over. Eight off it. Velocity 8/0 after 1 Over.
We are minutes away from start of play. Can the Trailblazers register their first win or will Velocity qualify for the finals? The next three hours should give us an answer. Trailblazers in a huddle.
TOSS UPDATE: Mithali's Velocity has won the toss and elected to bat first.
Velocity (Playing XI): Shafali Verma, Danielle Wyatt, Mithali Raj(c), Veda Krishnamurthy, Sushma Verma(w), Sune Luus, Shikha Pandey, Sushree Dibyadarshini, Ekta Bisht, Leigh Kasperek, Jahanara Alam
Trailblazers (Playing XI): S Mandhana (c), D Dottin, R Ghosh (wk), D Sharma, D Hemalatha, H Deol, N Chantham, S Khatun, S Ecclestone, R Gayakwad, J Goswami
We are just minutes away from the toss in Sharjah. "It's a different pitch when compared to yesterday. It is on the slower side and should help the spinners. The captain winning the toss might opt to bowl first," feel the experts.
First outing for Mandhana's team in this year's Women's T20 Challenge. They are going up against Mithali's Velocity, who are one win away from booking a place in the final. Velocity comes into today's match on the back of a five-wicket win over Supernovas on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Delhi Capitals will take on Mumbai Indians in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2020. You can follow the build-up here -
Last meeting:
Mithali's Velocity 113/7 beat Smriti's Trailblazers 112/6 on May 8, 2019
Women's T20 Challenge 2020 Points Table
WATCH EPISODE 7 OF OUR NEWEST SERIES T20 TIME FEATURING M ITHALI RAJ
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the Women's T20 Challenge 2020 match between Velocity and Trailblazers in Sharjah on Thursday.
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