IPL exposure: Women get a bittersweet taste

Mumbai, May 22 

The much-hyped women’s exhibition T20 match had an exciting finish but failed to attract sizeable crowd on a sultry Tuesday afternoon despite the presence of the world’s top women cricketers. For the record, Supernovas beat Trailblazers on the last ball of the match to register a thrilling three-wicket victory.

Chasing 130, Supernovas needed just four runs in the last over. New Zealand international Suzie Bates conceded just a single off the first three deliveries, bringing down the equation to run-a-ball in the last three. Needing one to win off the last ball, a composed Pooja Vastrakar (2no) stole a single to give her team a thrilling win.

While a women’s IPL is an enticing idea, the poor response to the match shows it’s going to take a while before the idea takes some concrete shape. The timing of the match — it started at 2pm — could also have kept the crowd away from the match.

Chasing 130, veteran Mithali Raj (22) and Dani Wyatt put up a 47-run stand for the opening wicket. In the fifth over, Mithali smashed a six, followed by a four, signalling she was ready for an all-out assault. However, spinner Ekta Bisht soon sent her back to the dugout. And then leg-spinner Poonam Yadav cut short Dani’s stay at the crease. Australian skipper Meg Lanning (16) looked in her element before offering a sitter to Jemimah Rodrigues at long-off as the Supernovas slumped to 71/3 after a strong start. Harmanpreet Kaur (21) and Sophie Divine (19) then stitched a crucial 36-run stand to take the game away from Trailblazers. 

Earlier, Bates (32 off 37 balls) and Rodrigues (25 off 23 balls) added 45 runs for the fifth wicket to help Trailblazers post a fighting total.

Brief scores: Trailblazers 129/6 in 20 overs (Suzie Bates 32, Jemimah Rodrigues 25; Megan Schutt 2/18, Ellyse Perry 2/20) Supernovas: 130/7 in 20 overs (Dani Wyatt 24, Harmanpreet Kaur 21, Mithali Raj 22; Suzie Bates 2/16, Poonam Yadav 2/21).  — PTI