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WPL: Harmanpreet leads MI to massive opening win
Gujarat Giants folded for a paltry 64 in the opening game as the tournament that is expected to change women's cricket was launched with fanfare on Saturday.
It wasn’t a packed stadium as in the case of the India-Australia women’s matches in Mumbai late in December, but a half-filled DY Patil Stadium – capacity of 52,000 spectators – still meant two times more fans than what Newlands in Cape Town saw in the T20 World Cup final last year.
India captain Harmanpreet Kaur missed out on that finale, but seemed to have made some mental notes of the unfinished business after being criticised for her run out that dashed India’s hopes of upstaging eventual champions Australia in the semi-finals.
Perhaps it was that frustration, but the Mumbai Indians led by her took it out on a hapless Gujarat Giants bowling attack on a night that saw a major chapter in women’s cricket started. MI though didn’t let Gujarat share in the celebratory mood, registering an emphatic 143-run victory in the opening match of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) on Saturday.
Harmanpreet led the way, hitting a 30-ball 65 to take her team to 207/5 before dismissing Gujarat Giants for 64.
For those who kept their date with a tournament that promises to change the face of Indian women’s cricket, they got to make the most of the double spread on offer - first they grooved to AP Dhillon’s beats and Kiara Advani’s moves in the opening ceremony before cricket took over.
Beth Mooney called the toss right and elected to field, but everything that could go wrong did. Harmanpreet tore into the bowling, but did it with a difference; with timing and placement, rarely going arial. The 15th over of the innings bowled by young left-arm seamer Monica Patel spoke of the gap in preparedness between the two sides.
Harmanpreet launched into an exhibition of drives, three on either side of covers and a pull shot to bring up four consecutive fours. As a dispirited Patel walked back to her fielding position after bowling the 21-run over, there was no one to put an arm around her shoulder. Mooney, who hadn’t captained in big-ticket cricket before and perhaps not entirely familiar with the Indian players, was struggling to plug the gaps as MI went on the offensive.
Even as the experienced Ashleigh Gardner was summoned into the attack in the next over, Harmanpreet was in such sublime touch that she continued with a sweep, paddle-sweep and a neat dab to third man ropes to get three consecutive fours. That spell of 15 balls in the middle-overs saw MI pocket 10 fours, primarily with the batters dissecting the inner ring.
When she was finally dismissed (65 -- 30b,14x4), MI was already 166/4 in 16 overs. Courtesy Amelia Kerr 45* (24b) and the lower-middle order, the boundaries kept coming as MI raced away to an imposing total. Never has the Indian team crossed the 200 mark in T20I cricket.
It was early in the match that one could tell that the Navi Mumbai crowd was on the MI corner. After a quiet first over of spin from Gardner, a cheer burst through when Haley Mathews swivelled and helped a short delivery past fine-leg boundary to register the first six. The West Indies all-rounder didn’t stop there. She used her core strength to bring up three more sixes. Her 47 (31b) paved the foundation for Harmanpreet and the others to blast 130 runs in the final 10 overs.
It clearly wasn’t Mooney day. Her injured knee saw her retiring hurt in the first over of Gujarat Giants’ reply. From then on, it was as if her entire batting order was in a mood to retire home quickly. In an abject surrender, only one GG batter and Dayalan Hemalatha (29*) were able to get to double figures.
By the time, MI completed the formalities in the 16th over, most of the crowd had left. They would have stayed on, celebrating a men’s win. That familiarity with players and fandom with come with time. For a start, this was a resounding show.
