Deandra Dottin, a class apart

West Indian all-rounder Deandra Dottin won the Player of the Match award in the final of the Women's T20 Challenge 2022.

Star of the final

Dottin helped her side Supernovas beat Velocity by 4 runs. She also won the player of the series award and was instrumental in Supernovas third title victory in the women's T20 Challenge.

Dottin shone bright with the bat on the night of the big final with a 73 run opening partnership with Priya Punia. She made a 44 ball 62, embellished with one four and four sixes while batting at a strike rate of over 140.

It was courtesy of her and a fine contribution of a 29 ball 43 from captain Harmanpreet Kaur that Supernovas were able to post 165 runs on the board for the loss of 7 wickets from their allotted 20 overs.

Making the most of the opportunity

"The game plan was to spend as much time on the crease as possible and survive the first six overs," Dottin said after her innings, having had a partnership of 73 with fellow opener Priya Punia and 58 with No.3 Harmanpreet Kaur. "Having a slow start is not always bad. You can't always have a fast start all the time. The plan was to continue to stay and target bowlers from the end where the wind was strong."

"It's true that luck gave Supernovas free hits, but I wanted to cash in on one. To be honest, it's fun batting with Punia. We enjoy batting together. We talk a lot and give each other encouragement after each ball and each over… It was always really nice to watch Harman hit from the non-striker's end."

Genuine all-rounder

Dottin then starred for the side with the ball as well and was their best bowler. The biggest headache for Supernovas was the big hitting Kiran Navgire who wasn't allowed to open her account after 13 deliveries.

Dottin played a major part in that, bowling quick bumpers which Navgire wasn't able to connect. The all rounder took two wickets while giving away 28 runs from her 4 overs at an economy rate of 7.00 which also included one maiden over to Kiran Navgire.

Dottin turned out to be the star on the night when it mattered the most.