Mumbai Indians 213 for 4 (Sciver-Brunt 77, Matthews 77, Harmanpreet 36, Gibson 2-40) beat Gujarat Giants 166 (Gibson 34, Litchfield 31, Matthews 3-31, Kerr 2-28) by 47 runs
Giants have been with out Deandra Dottin for his or her first knockout sport in three WPLs after the allrounder damage herself solely 5 minutes earlier than the toss, and was changed by England’s Danielle Gibson. Giants did not do themselves any favours as they misfielded by way of the innings and put down 4 catches that price them closely. Within the run chase, they misplaced their three top-scorers this season – Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Ashleigh Gardner – within the powerplay as Mumbai held on to their catches and effected run-outs.
Phoebe Litchfield scored a quickfire 31 off 20 balls, however as soon as she was stumped off Amelia Kerr, Giants have been all however out of the chase at 107 for five, with the asking fee above 13 an over.
Matthews, Sciver-Brunt set strong platform
Put in to bat, Mumbai went again to opening with Yastika Bhatia, nevertheless it did not change her fortunes. After amassing three boundaries in her 14-ball keep throughout a sedate powerplay by which MI did not take too many dangers, Bhatia pulled Gibson to midwicket to fall for 14.
The wicket introduced out the in-form Sciver-Brunt, who did not bat an eyelid to get going alongside Matthews, who began with solely 17 runs off her first 22 balls earlier than taking off. Sciver-Brunt took the aerial route straightaway. She ended the seventh over with consecutive boundaries, which Matthews adopted up by smacking three of her personal off the following three balls from Priya Mishra to energy the run fee previous eight an over. Three of these 5 consecutive fours got here off quick deliveries, a size the Giants bowlers usually bowled and bought punished for.
Their sloppy fielding did not assist both, resulting in a lot of boundaries. The primary got here within the ninth over when Sciver-Brunt drove to deep cowl, the place Simran Shaikh let the ball undergo her. Quickly after, Sciver-Brunt reverse paddled Gardner for her fifth boundary in 12 balls. Kashvee Gautam then let one by way of at level when Matthews lower one sq.. By then, Matthews had began to search out her A sport, and a six off Tanuja Kanwar’s quick ball introduced her fifty up off 36 balls, and the crew’s 100 in 11 overs.
With Mumbai at 111 for 1 after 12 overs, Meghna Singh and Mishra introduced some type of steadiness again by conceding solely 13 runs in two overs. However from the cushion of 124 for 1 with six overs to go, it was time to flooring the pedal.
Harmanpreet Kaur smashed 36 off simply 12 balls•BCCI
Harmonster demolishes Giants once more
Harmanpreet already had her helmet on within the dugout, and was shadow-practicing her massive swings whereas ready for her probability. Sciver-Brunt deposited Gibson over deep midwicket and long-on to boost a 29-ball fifty. Giants, in the meantime, continued their wretched run on the sector when the dependable Gardner dropped Matthews on 57 straight down the bottom.
Matthews made them pay instantly, hitting Mishra for back-to-back sixes over long-on and canopy with deft footwork. Such was Mumbai’s luck that even a top-edge off the following ball went for 4. However that luck ran out when Matthews edged Gautam behind for 77 off 50 balls, and Mooney took a pointy catch standing up.
Harmanpreet averaged practically 79 towards Giants earlier than this sport, and the quantity may have fallen had Mishra held on to a catch at midwicket when she was on 1. However Mishra did not, and Harmanpreet grew to become Harmonster. She went deep within the crease and opened her stance to cart the ball round, whether or not it was within the slot or not.
Harmanpreet began the 18th over by hammering Kanwar for six, 4, 4 – even that sequence included a misfield – earlier than ending the over together with her trademark slog-sweep for six. That over went for 22 in all. Sciver-Brunt additionally bought a life within the subsequent over – sandwiched between two boundaries off Gibson – when Kanwar made a large number of a skier. Giants have been punished but once more subsequent ball, however lastly ended the partnership when Litchfield caught one at deep midwicket, leaving Sciver-Brunt seven wanting 500 runs this season, and three wanting 1000 within the WPL general.
Harmanpreet was gifted two balls within the slot at first of the final over, and he or she fortunately collected sixes off each. Meghna, nevertheless, completed nicely, making a gift of simply two off the following three balls earlier than nailing a yorker that led to Harmanpreet being run out for 36.
Danielle Gibson’s dive wasn’t sufficient for Amanjot Kaur’s flat throw from the deep•BCCI
Mumbai’s fielders present the way it’s performed
It took solely 5 balls for the hosts to point out their superiority within the subject on the evening, regardless of the presence of dew. When Shabnim Ismail drew Mooney’s edge, Matthews leapt to her proper from first slip to seize the ball with each fingers. When Harleen Deol and Gibson bought right into a mix-up within the fifth over, 20-year-old Sanskriti Gupta put in a dive at level and hurled the ball rapidly to the wicketkeeper to search out Deol quick. And simply earlier than the midway mark, Gibson additionally fell quick when making an attempt a second run, and her dive wasn’t sufficient to beat Amanjot Kaur’s flat throw from the deep.
In between, Gardner misplaced her off stump towards Matthews, which meant Giants have been 43 for 3 within the powerplay. Litchfield was their solely hope and he or she used her ft frequently towards Kerr and struck two boundaries towards Ismail that confirmed her class on both aspect of the wicket. However when Litchfield ventured out of the crease towards Kerr as soon as once more and missed, Bhatia did the remainder to go away Giants 107 for five.
One other run-out and Giants go down
Giants hardly had any steam left of their tank, and their poor operating added to their distress. Subsequent to fall quick was Gautam, who was despatched again when she hurried out for a fast single after drilling the ball to cowl, from the place Harmanpreet fired the ball again for the sixth wicket.
With one other 102 runs to get from the remaining 42 balls, and their prime 5 again within the hut, Giants’ solely hope of getting anyplace near their goal was Bharti Fulmali. She began with a straight six off Amanjot, dispatched Kerr to the leg-side boundary, and flayed Matthews for consecutive boundaries behind sq.. However when Fulmali backed away on the lookout for a 3rd boundary in a row, Matthews beat her tried lower and knocked the stumps over.
Mumbai continued their stellar fielding show as Harmanpreet took a diving catch to ship Shaikh again, and Sciver-Brunt ran to her left at deep midwicket to seal victory within the final over.
Vishal Dikshit is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
