Velocity qualified for the final of the Women's T20 Challenge despite losing by 16 runs against defending champions Trailblazers in their second match of the tournament due to a better run rate, here on Thursday.
Chasing a target of 191 runs for victory, but Velocity were restricted to 174 for nine in 20 overs. Velocity will now face Supernovas in the final on Saturday.
Trailblazers (-0.825), Supernovas (+0.912) and Velocity (-0.022) ended with two points each but the top two teams made it to the final as they had better net run-rate than the defending champions.
Put into bat first, Sabbhineni Meghana and Jemimah Rodrigues slammed scintillating fifties to propel Trailblazers to 190-5 in 20 overs. Sabbhineni top-scored with 73 off 47 balls, while Jemimah made a 44-ball 66. On the other hand, Simran Bahadur (2/32) was the most successful bowler for Velocity.
Batting at No 3, Navgire top-scored for Velocity with a 34-ball 69 but it was not enough to win the game for her side. Poonam Yadav (2/33) and Rajeshwari Gayakwad (2/44) picked up two wickets apiece for Trailblazers.
Brief scores: Trailblazers 190/5 (S Meghana 73, Jemimah Rodrigues 66; Simran Bahadur 2-31) beat Velocity 174/9 (Kiran Navgire 69, Shafali Verma 29; Poonam Yadav 2-33) by 16 runs