Tags: Womens Premier League 2023,
Mumbai Indians Women vs Gujarat Giants, 12th Match,
Mumbai Indians Women
Published on: Mar 16, 2023
Mumbai Indians (MI) hammered Gujarat Giants (GG) by 55 runs in match number 12 of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2023 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Tuesday, March 14. With their fifth successive win in the tournament, Mumbai became the first team seal their playoffs berth.
MI lost the toss again and were asked to bat first by Gujarat. Hayley Matthews was dismissed for a duck by a smart delivery from Ashleigh Gardner (3/34). However, Nat Sciver-Brunt (36 off 31 balls) and Yastika Bhatia (44 off 37 balls) featured in 74-runs second-wicket stand to give the Mumbai innings a boost.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur then came in and led from the front once again. She smashed 51 off only 30 balls, clubbing seven fours and two sixes. It needed a brilliant diving catch by Harleen Deol off Gardner’s bowling to end her knock in the 20th over. Thanks to Harmanpreet’s knock, Mumbai finished with 162/8.
Gujarat never got going in the chase and were held to 107/9. Sophia Dunkley fell first ball to Sciver-Brunt, who ended with excellent figures of 3/21. Deol and Gujarat skipper Sneh Rana (20) were the only batters from team to make some sort of contribution with the bat. For Mumbai, apart from Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews (3/23) and Amelia Kerr (2/18) also did very well to stifle Gujarat’s batting.
Reflecting on the win, Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur gave credit to the support staff and her teammates. Speaking at the post-match presentation, she commented, “The way we have been playing, we want to continue. We are so positive and they always want to do well for the team. When we got this team, I was really happy, they were doing well for the country and now they will do the same for MI. The positivity is giving all the results.”
Sharing her views on the Brabourne surface, the 34-year-old added that a batter needs to settle in to get runs. She explained, “When we played last game on this wicket, initially you are not going to get runs. Once you get settled you will get runs. That’s what I did today. Whatever which is giving results is what I’m doing.
“Sometimes you have to see the boundary dimensions as well. The leg-side is short and a medium-pacer was bowling and that’s why I went and the last-over anyway you need to go, but this was the longer boundary and I could not clear,” Harmanpreet added.
–By A Cricket Correspondent
