Ruthless Mumbai Indians Crush Gujarat Giants in a One-Sided WPL Opener
Harmanpreet Kaur scored 65 off 30 (Source: Twitter)
A dominating performance with the bat, followed by an absolute demolition job by the bowlers helped Mumbai Indians Women to beat Gujarat Giants Women by a huge 143 runs in the inaugural match of the Womenโs Premier League 2023 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
Harmanpreet Kaur madness lights up WPL opener
After being asked to bat first, Mumbai Indians Women lost Yastika Bhatia early in the powerplay, but two experienced international stars, Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver made sure Gujarat Giants did not get any momentum, keeping the scoreboard moving and ended the powerplay with 44 for one.
Georgia Wareham was introduced into the attack after the powerplay and the wrist spinner managed to keep it tight in her first couple of overs, including the wicket of Nat Sciver. Following the wicket of Sciver, Matthews also missed out on a well deserved fifty.
Harmanpreet Kaur, at four alongside Amelia Kerr, started to build on to a strong finish in the second half of the innings. Both the batters were in great touch, taking every bowler to the cleaners. It was an innings full of exquisite timing and class of Harmanpreet. She completed her half century off just 22 balls and went on to score a 30-ball 65.
Kerr continued the onslaught at the other end and Mumbai Indians went past the 200 mark, finishing with 207 for five in 20 overs.
Gujarat goes down for just 64
Saika Ishaque took 4-11 (Source: Twitter)
Chasing a mammoth 208, Gujarat Giants got off to a very poor start, losing their skipper Beth Mooney to an injury just after four balls into the innings. Mooney left the field and what followed next was a disaster for the Giants. Nat Sciver started the proceedings with the wicket of Harleen Deol in the last ball of the first over.
Issy Wong soon joined the party, removing the dangerous Ashleigh Gardner for golden duck and Gujarat started to crumble down like a pack of cards. Gujarat lost four wickets with only 17 on the board at the end of the powerplay. They went onto lose seven with 36 on the board after the end of 10 overs.
The game was well over but Dayalan Hemalatha was the only batter who fought with the bat and left stranded at one with her side going down for 64 with more than four overs remaining. Saika Ishaque was the star with the ball, taking four wickets for just 11 runs in her spell.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indians Women: 207/5 (20 Overs)
Harmanpreet Kaur 65 (30), Hayley Matthews 47 (31);
Sneh Rana 2/43 (4), Tanuja Kanwar 1/12 (2)
Gujarat Giants Women: (20 Overs)
Dayalan Hemalatha 29 (23), Monica Patel 10 (9);
Saika Ishaque 4/11 (3.1), Nat Sciver 2/5 (2)
Match Result: Mumbai Indians won by 143 runs
 "Kaushik Kashyap")