WPL: Unstoppable Mumbai Indians storm into playoffs with fifth consecutive win

Mumbai Indians purple patch in the ongoing Women’s Premier League continues as they emerged victorious against Gujarat Giants by 55 runs at the Brabourne Stadium on March 14.

Sneh Rana-led Gujarat won the toss and elected to field first and Ashleigh Gardner drew first blood as she got explosive batter Hayley Matthews’ wicket for a nought in the very first over. However, despite the early dismissal, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Yastika Bhatia settled Mumbai Indians with a crucial partnership.

Sciver-Brunt got 36 off 31 balls with five boundaries and one maximum, however, she could not convert it into a big score as she was dismissed lbw by Kim Garth. Skipper Harmanpreet immediately shifted gears and began playing aggressive shots. Meanwhile, a miscommunication between the skipper and Yastika led to the latter’s run out.

Harmanpreet clobbered two maximums and seven boundaries to notch up her half-century (51 runs) in 30 balls, her third in the WPL as she steered the side to 162 runs in 20 overs. Notably, Gardner picked three wickets while Garth, Sneh Rana, and Tanuja Kanwar got a wicket each.

Gujarat totter in run chase

Mumbai’s dominance in the contest was at its peak as Sciver-Brunt got the big shark Sophia Dunkley dismissed on the very first ball. Following that, Gujarat pinned their hopes on star batter Harleen Deol to play a game-changing knock.

However, Mumbai’s bowling unit operated in tandem to find breakthroughs and took complete control of the contest. Though Matthews failed to display a good batting performance, she made up for it by denting the middle-order with the ball.

Matthews and Sciver-Brunt got a three-wicket haul each to put their opponents under pressure. Eventually, Gujarat handed Mumbai their fifth win in the league as they were restricted to 107/9. Mumbai Indians sit atop the points table with 10 points in five matches.