WPL: Harmanpreet helps MI beat Gujarat, eye direct final spot
Mumbai Indians skipper top-scored with a 33-ball 54 before Giants were restricted to 170/9 at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium
Mumbai: Mumbai Indians’ homecoming in the Women’s Premier League had a significant Harmanpreet Kaur stamp – as batter and captain.
On a night she slammed a 33-ball 54 and engineered some clever changes on the field, MI defeated Gujarat Giants by nine runs at the Brabourne Stadium in their first home game since becoming inaugural season champions. The win gives MI a big push towards finishing table-toppers and guaranteeing a direct final spot.
Harmanpreet’s second half-century of this WPL season formed the bedrock of MI’s healthy 179/6. GG were nearly down for the count after the halfway mark of the chase at 70/5 until Bharti Fulmali’s stunning 25-ball 61 brought them back to life, and the equation to 23 off 12. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews ensured the final two punches went the hosts’ way.
Getting the job done in the final over with the ball, Matthews had also got MI off the blocks with the bat earlier in the evening. A 12-run opening over set the tone even as Amelia Kerr was run out by a brilliant direct hit from Ashleigh Gardner. MI’s 44-run powerplay charge was halted by young leg-spinner Priya Mishra who got Matthews caught behind with a googly.
GG’s spinners had pulled things back, but Harmanpreet, who opened her boundary count with a reverse sweep, then shifted gears. Meghna Singh was pulled, cut and cover driven for fours during a solid 59-run third-wicket partnership with the dependable Sciver-Brunt (38- 31b).
After Sciver-Brunt fell in the 14th over, Amanjot Kaur (27 - 14b) walked in and played the perfect enforcer’s role. She hit Kashvee Gautam for back-to-back fours followed by a flicked six in a 15-run 17th over.
Harmanpreet completed a 31-ball fifty before holing out in the final over. The last three overs fetched 40 runs, taking the hosts to a healthy total.
GG desperately needed runs from their openers and promoted Kashvee in search of that. Beth Mooney had been among the runs in GG’s last two victories but was caught driving Matthews’s first ball in the fourth over.
Two overs later, Sanskriti Gupta had Kashvee stumped. Two balls later came another wicket courtesy some smart captaincy. Harmanpreet brought back her strike bowler Shabnim Ismail right after the powerplay for the dangerous Gardner and kept a slip. Ismail’s pacy back of a length delivery found the outside edge and the hands of Matthews at slip.
Kerr, who regained the Purple Cap with a three-wicket haul, also came into the act with her googly, trapping Harleen Deol (24, 17b) as it only got tougher for GG. Fulmali almost pulled them out of it with her fireworks before Kerr silenced it just in time.
