At Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Mumbai Indians women shocked the Gujarat Giants women in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 match by winning by seven wickets. Gujarat chose to bat first and in their allotted 20 overs, they amassed a whopping 190/7. Mumbai, in response, reached the goal on the penultimate ball thanks to a brilliant knock from captain Harmanpreet Kaur (95* off 48).
MI’s chase got off to a strong start when Hayley Matthews (18 off 21) and Yastika Bhatia (49 off 36) added 50 runs for the first wicket. With Harmanpreet and Amelia Kerr at the crease, Mumbai lost to 98/3 in 13.3 overs after having a strong start. The MI captain, who scored 75 runs off 27 balls, single-handedly altered the tide of the match.
After choosing to bat first earlier in the day, Gujarat failed to make an impact as they lost opener Laura Wolvaardt (13 off 14) in the very first over. Captain Beth Mooney continued her incredible form after the early blow, recording her second consecutive half-century in the competition. Dayalan Hemalatha provided excellent support for her with an innings of 74 (40) that featured two sixes and nine fours.
The pair shared a tremendous partnership of 121 off 62 balls for the second wicket, pushing their team’s total past 130. In the 20 overs that were allocated to them, Bharati Fulamli’s outstanding cameo of 21* (13) after their dismissals helped her team reach 190/7.
Following the match, the two captains and the Player of the Match said the following:
The losing captain, Beth Mooney, of the Gujarat Giants, said:
I guess, T20 cricket, you really have to bowl well to defend these. We thought 190 was a good score. It’s really tough. 49m boundaries are really tough no matter what tournament you’re playing in. Mumbai batted really well. There’s still a lot of positives, certainly from a batting perspective we’re clicking. Just one or two balls that are going for boundaries, can probably keep things a little tighter. She (Hemalatha) made my life a lot easier, she said she enjoys batting with me. She might swing herself off her feet one day but she’s a great teammate to have.
Winning Captain and Player of the Match, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai Indians, said:
It was a very big game for us, we had to win so that we wouldn’t put any pressure on us (going forward). We knew we had a long batting order and we could get the job done. Definitely have an eye on finishing first to get into the final directly. Had a chat with Himanshu bhaiya about my batting and how I can improve, was thinking about staying there and looked for a big innings.
They are experienced players and when you’re chasing a big total, a lot of things are clear, like how much you need. We could then rotate the strike and take it as it came. We thought that we have a little break, have some water and see what message would come, we knew targeting the 19th over would be crucial.
India
