I asked Lea Tahuhu to give me as much strike as possible, says Harmanpreet Kaur
Harmanpreet Kaur has stated that she asked Lea Tahuhu to give her as much strike as possible, referring to Supernovas’ run chase of Velocity’s 121 in the final encounter of Women’s T20 Challenge. Kaur was the top scorer as she smashed a 34 ball fifty laced with three sixes and four boundaries.
In Saturday’s final encounter of Women’s T20 Challenge, the Supernovas won the toss and put Velocity to bat. The Mithali Raj lead team could only set a target of 122, however, the Supernovas were in deep trouble as they lost four wickets between the tenth and 14th over. The 2018 champions were reeling at 64 for five halfway between the 14th over when Lea Tahuhu walked in.
The equation had come to 57 runs off 39 deliveries and skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was standing at four runs off ten deliveries. She smashed 47 runs off the next 27 deliveries but was dismissed when just five more runs were required off three more deliveries. Radha Yadav scored two runs each in the next two deliveries followed by a boundary to finish the match. The skipper was mighty impressed with the 19-year-old’ exploits.
“I knew that if played till the end I would have won the game. That is the chat I had with Lea as well to tell her to give me as much strike as possible. I was happy to hit the ball in the open areas and am glad I was able to. Well when I got out a lot of thought was coming into my mind,” Kaur said at the post-match presentation ceremony, reported Cricbuzz.
“But I was happy with the approach that Radha showed, and she is the superstar today. All credit goes to her, I did half the job and she finished it,” she added.
After opener Chamari Athapaththu was dismissed for two runs, Priya Punia and number three Jemimah Rodrigues stitched a 44-run stand for the second wicket. However, the 51 run partnership off 29 deliveries between Tahuhu the skipper was the difference between the two sides. The India T20 skipper credited her batsmen for their contributions.
“Only five overs were left when we needed 40-45 runs and I wanted to keep the strike. In between, Priya and Jemimah played really well. The partnership between Lea and me was also very good with her giving me a lot of confidence,” asserted the 30-year-old.
This edition of the Women’s T20 Challenge was scheduled as one leg tournament while last year it was just an exhibition match. Kaur thanked the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) and the fans and stated that she was looking forward to another edition next year.
“A big thank you to the BCCI and to the crowd as well for their support; looking forward to it next year as well,” she expressed.
The young Radha Yadav was ecstatic as she hit the winning runs.
“I was thinking that I had to hit the winning runs in the finals; was waiting for this for a very long time. Everyone was very confident about this final, we worked very hard in the nets and it paid off,” she said.
England all-rounder Natalia Sciver, who scalped one wicket and scored two runs, wished that the tournament was longer than just four games.
"We had confidence in our batters to do it. We wanted to put a spectacle for the crowd that turned out. It's a good thing for women's cricket. We would love to be here for a little bit longer playing a few more games. We want to be playing with the best and that's what this tournament is all about," she signed off.
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