India’s Harmanpreet Kaur made her Women’s Cricket Super League debut in style as she helped guide the Lancashire Thunder to a five-wicket win over the Surrey Stars on Tuesday.
The star Indian women’s all-rounder struck a penultimate ball six to help her side over the finish line in her very first match for Lancashire.
Kaur’s 21-ball 34 was the catalyst for Lancashire’s win after the Surrey Stars had set them a target of 149 runs. Surrey captain Natalie Sciver starred with the bat with her unbeaten knock of 95 (57) helping the side to a competitive total after others batters around her collapsed.
In reply, Lancashire were given an excellent start by Australia’s Nicole Bolton who top-scored with an innings of 87 (61). A late middle-order collapse saw the game slipping out of the grasp of Lancashire before Harmanpreet turned it around with her explosive cameo.
WHAT A WAY TO WIN!
— England and Wales Cricket Board (@ECB_cricket) July 31, 2018
Indian star @ImHarmanpreet smashes a huge six to win it on her @LancsCricketWMN debut 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dC4ciEZrw7
With four runs required for victory for Lancashire from the final two deliveries, Kaur struck Laura Marsh for a six to seal the win in some style.
Her unbeaten innings of 34 contained three boundaries along with the penultimate-ball six.
Kaur’s match-winning innings follows another strong showing by an Indian women’s team player. Days ago, Smriti Mandhana had registered the fastest half-century in women’s T20 cricket against the same opponents. Mandhana had struck a 19-ball 52 in a match reduced to a six-over per side clash.