Defending champions Mumbai Indians registered their 2nd successive win in WPL 2024 as they chased down 128, albeit with some difficulty against the Gujarat Giants at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur spearheaded the win by hitting a maximum to take the Mumbai Indians past the target.
Only 4 out of 11 batters reached double-figures for the Gujarat Giants as Mumbai Indians' bowlers continued to apply the stranglehold on them. Shabnim Ismail was spot on from the outset, getting rid of Veda Krishnamurthy for a duck in the opening over, while Harleen Deol became her 2nd victim in the 3rd.
Captain Beth Mooney, who was the only one to reach double-figures among the top five, was Ismail's 3rd wicket. However, it was Amelia Kerr's leg breaks that did the real damage to the Giants as she reduced the Giants to 78-7 at one stage. She eventually finished with figures of 4-0-17-4. Cameos from Kathryn Bryce and Tanuja Kanwar gave the Giants something to defend.
Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr dig in after openers depart cheaply:
Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Mathews couldn't quite make their bat talk on this occasion as they departed for single-figure scores. Nat-Sciver Brunt's enterprising knock of 18-ball 22 came to a close as Kanwar and Mooney combined for excellent teamwork to catch her short at the striker's end.
It was relatively smooth sailing for Kaur and Kerr for the next 8 overs as they bed in to stitch a 66-run partnership. The Giants did get a late couple of wickets, but the match had significantly swung towards Mumbai's way and Kaur hit a six to finish things off in 18.1 overs.
