A valiant effort from Harmanpreet Kaur was not enough as Mumbai Indians suffered a close defeat at the hands of the Gujarat Giants in Vadodara on Friday. With the winner qualifying for the WPL 2026 Eliminator, the clash was of renewed importance with both teams aiming progression.
Harmanpreet kept MI's hopes alive, singlehandedly taking on the Giants attack. However, a target of 26 in the final over proved to be too many for the Indian captain who fell short. It was Giants first ever win over Mumbai Indians in WPL history, having suffered 8 defeats on the bounce. The victory helps Gujarat Giants seal a berth in the Eliminator, while Mumbai's campaign hangs on the result between Delhi and UP on Sunday.
Earlier, Gujarat Giants won the toss and opted to bat first. The 'hosts' made most of that decision, posting a competitive 167 on the board. While Beth Mooney departed early, all of Sophie Devine, Anushka Sharma, Ashleigh Gardner and Georgia Wareham made telling contributions to take the team to a par score.
In the chase, MI lost both Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt cheaply. Harmanpreet Kaur looked in delightful touch from the get go but lacked support from the rest of the batting order. Harman took the game as deep as she could, chipping away boundaries to keep it afloat.
With 26 needed off the last over, Gardner bowled herself. Harman greeted her with a six to bring the equation down, but two dots and a single later meant that Gujarat claimed a deserved 11-run win.
