Women’s Premier League: Matthews, Sciver-Brunt carry Mumbai Indians into final
Score power-packed 50s to take the team to 213 for 4 in 20 overs; Gujarat Giants fold up for 166 in 19.2 overs
Mumbai: Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews carried Mumbai Indians to their second WPL final as their power-packed knocks laid the cornerstone for the team’s 47-run win over Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator here on Thursday.
After a rather sedate powerplay, Sciver-Brunt (77 off 41) and Matthews (77 off 50) displayed brute force to fire Mumbai Indians to a daunting 213 for four.
Mumbai Indians skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (36 off 12) provided the finishing touches with a crisp cameo. After an ordinary show in the field and with the ball, the Giants were in self-destructing mode in the chase with three run-outs being an indicator of that.
Their innings ended at 166 all out in 19.2 overs with Matthews also chipping in with the ball, striking twice. It was Mumbai Indians’ seventh straight win over the Giants in WPL history. Mumbai Indians, who won the inaugural edition in 2023, will meet Delhi Capitals in the final on Saturday.
Debutant Daniell Gibson (34 off 24) and Phoebe Litchfield (31 off 20) looked in threatening touch but regular fall of wickets kept pegging the Giants back.
The highlight of Litchfield’s effort was the switch hit of Matthews. Skipper Ashleigh Gardner, who bailed her team out on multiple occasions, had an off day with the bat.
Indian batter Bharti Fulmali delayed the inevitable with an impressive 30 off 20 balls. Having finished last in the past two seasons, reaching the knock-out stage was a welcome result for Gujarat Giants.
Earlier Sciver-Brunt, who forms the backbone of Mumbai Indians batting, disdainfully smashed pacers and spinners, collecting 10 fours and two sixes in the process. Realising Mumbai had got only 37 in the powerplay, Matthews and Sciver-Brunt changed gears.
While the England batter took the attack to debutant pacer Danielle Gibson, Matthews hammered three consecutive boundaries off leg-spinner Priya Mishra.
Matthews, who began cautiously before cutting loose, got to her fifty with a six off a long hop from left-arm spinner Tanuja Kanwer. In the death overs, it was raining sixes from the bat of Harmanpreet who cleared the ropes four times in her sizzling effort. Mumbai Indians smashed 73 in the last five overs. PTI
Scoreboard:
Mumbai Indians: Yastika Bhatia c Fulmali b Gibson 15, Hayley Matthews c Mooney b Gautam 77, Nat Sciver-Brunt c Litchfield b Gibson 77, Harmanpreet Kaur run out (Fulmali/Meghna Singh) 36, Sajeevan Sajana not out 1
Extras: (LB-4, W-3) 7; Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 213, Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-159, 3-198, 4-213; Bowling: Kashvee Gautam 4-0-30 -1, Ashleigh Gardner 2-0-15-0, Tanuja Kanwar 4-0-49-0, Danielle Gibson 4-0-40-2, Priya Mishra 3 -0-40-0, Meghna Singh 3-0 -35-0.
Gujarat Giants: Beth Mooney c Matthews b Ismail 6, Danielle Gibson run out (AB Kaur/Bhatia) 34, Harleen Deol run out (Gupta/Bhatia) 8, Ashleigh Gardner b Matthews 8, Phoebe Litchfield st Bhatia b Kerr 31, Bharti Fulmali b Matthews 30, Kashvee Gautam run out (H Kaur/Bhatia) 4, Simran Shaikh c H Kaur b Kerr 17, Tanuja Kanwar c AB Kaur b Nat Sciver-Brunt 16, Meghna Singh c Nat Sciver-Brunt b Matthews 5, Priya Mishra not out 0
Extras: (LB-1, W-6) 7, Total: (All out in 19.2 overs) 166, Fall of wickets: 1-6 2-34, 3-43, 4-81, 5-107, 6-112, 7-142, 8-157, 9-165 10-166; Bowling: Shabnim Ismail 4-0-35-1, Nat Sciver-Brunt 4-0-31-1, Saika Ishaque 1-0-8-0, Hayley Matthews 3.2-0-31-3, Amanjot Kaur 3-0-32-0, Amelia Kerr 4-0-28-2.
