A blazing, unbeaten 48-ball 95 by Harmanpreet Kaur powered Mumbai Indians Women to a sensational 7-wicket win over Gujarat Giants at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Saturday. The victory, with one ball to spare, helped Mumbai seal their place in the WPL 2024’s next round. After winning the first season of the WPL , Mumbai Indians under the charismatic leadership of India’s T20I skipper Harmanpreet Kaur continued the second season from where it was left from 2023 aiming for their second title on the trought in the consecutive years.
A blazing fifty in the opening match of the WPL season 2024. then missing out few matches due to injury, post return having a low runs in few matches before the knock on Saturday , Mumbai skipper Harmanpreet Kaur has seen it all until she decided to single handedly turn the tide in her teams favour chasing a mammoth score of 191 . What achieved at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi from Harmanpreet Kaur’s bat was spectacular as the drama for the successful run chase of 191 unfolded in the match between Mumbai Indians and Gujarat Giants.
Pitch and Toss
The Arun Jaitley Stadium pitch provided the longest hit downtown, as the right the boundary is long as well, the boundary to the left is shorter. The bowlers would look to bowl fuller and wicket-to-wicket, reckons WV Raman in his pitch report which meant that the batters had to bat a straighter lot on a wicket that was purely conducive for batting and make use of the boundary dimensions to the fullest.
Gujarat Giants skipper Beth Mooney won the toss and elected to bat . Gujarat Giants team made two changes to their squad as Bharti Fulmali a replacement for Harleen Deol replaces Veda Krishnamurthy and Sneh Rana comes in for Mannat Kashyap.
Mumbai skipper Harmanpreet Kaur too wanted to bat first made no changes to her squad .
Beth Mooney stamps her class as Gujarat Giants have a steady start with 121 runs partnership with Dayalan Hemalatha
After four losses in the Bengaluru leg, Mooney had bemoaned the lack of runs from her bat. And she responded with back-to-back fifties, after losing Laura Wolvaardt early. She used the pace Matthews offered her to glide one between short third and backward point to get off the mark. Shabnim Ismail’s pace only helped her score quickly – she made room to carve one over covers before punching one straight back in the powerplay. She used the short square boundaries on one side – they were 63m and 46m – to her advantage and never let the scoring rate dip.
Mooney displays several qualities that irks oppositions – finding boundaries at will, rotating strike that does not allow bowlers to settle, and compounding problems for the captain. The danger levels peaked when she scooped Pooja Vastrakar to two sixes over fine leg in the space of four balls.
The Mumbai fast bowler dug both those deliveries on a length – one in line of the stumps, one angling away – but both met with the same fate. After a 140-run opening stand with Wolvaardt in the previous game, she added 121 for the second wicket with Hemalatha. Till she was dismissed – chopping on part-time offspinner S Sanjana onto the stumps – she looked quite unstoppable.
It was yet another excellent batting display by Mooney. This time, the Giants captain had the company of Dayalan Hemalatha, who put up her finest performance in the tournament. While Mooney exuded class with an exquisite range of shots, timing and placement, Hemalatha brought more power to the partnership. After losing Laura Wolvaardt in the third over, the duo combined to add 121 runs in only 10.2 overs.
They attacked the short side of the boundary to good effect and also cashed in on the errors from the bowlers. The wide area of the field that they targeted ensured that bowlers were running out of their primary options. Pooja Vastrakar, Amanjot Kaur, Sciver-Brunt and Kerr all conceded more than 10 an over. The most severe of those assaults came in the 12th over when Vastrakar was smacked for two sixes and ended up conceding 16 runs.
However, right after the Time Out break at the end of the 13th over, Mooney was cleaned up by S Sajana.
Dayalan Hemalatha shows her mettle as Gujarat Giants posts a competitive target of 190 for 7 .
After Matthews struck in the third over, Hemalatha was promoted to No. 3 and she got going right away. She played a lofted cover drive off Saika Ishaque on her fifth ball and then went full tilt in Amelia Kerr’s first over. She welcomed the leg spinner with a drive over covers before dancing down to thump her straight over. When Kerr went good length, Hemalatha went deep in her crease and cut her through point.
Hemalatha was also equally adept against pace on the night. She was unafraid to give Vastrakar the charge and take on the pull against her as well as Ismail. She also brought out the ramp against the bumpers from Ismail as she raced to a 28-ball half-century, her first of WPL 2024. She continued her assault even after Mooney’s dismissal before mistiming a loft straight to cover. Dayalan Hemalatha scored a brilliant 74 out of 40 runs before getting out inclusive of 9 fours and 2 sixes .
A similar story panned out as it had in GG’s previous game after the fall of Wolvaardt wicket. Mumbai Indians clawed their way back. Phoebe Litchfield and Ash Gardner fell cheaply and GG were reduced from 139 for 1 to 163 for 5 in a matter of 22 balls. The scoring rate dropped significantly and what looked like a 200-plus total at one point took a serious beating.
Bharti Fulmali, who had been roped in as a replacement for Harleen Deol ahead of this game, hit a few lusty blows en route to her 13-ball 21 but in their total of 190 for 7 proved inadequate to defend.
Mumbai reined Giants in with a tidy finish at the death, giving away just 30 runs in the last four overs and picking up three wickets. That proved to be a winning effort, in hindsight.
Yastika Bhatia leaves her stamp in the chase before Harmanpreet Kaur’s carnage.
Sure, Harmanpreet Kaur made the most noise in the chase, and rightly so. She is known for her belligerent ways, and it is at the crunch moments she often comes alive.
But the one innings that kept Mumbai in the hunt was Yastika Bhatia’s. Even as Hayley Matthews, her opening partner, struggled to get off the mark, Bhatia exploited the short boundary, hammering Kathryn Bryce for a four and a six in the second over. Matthews briefly found her touch, which meant Mumbai stitched only their second 50-run opening stand this season. But Tanuja Kanwar had her caught at long-on right after the powerplay.
When young Shabnam, who was part of India’s win in the inaugural Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup last year, dismissed Nat Sciver-Brunt cheaply in the eighth over, Mumbai’s chase was over for all money.
But Bhatia kept finding the gaps and moved the scoreboard along. She used her feet against Rana, who was varied her flight and lines. She drilled one through covers before lofting her straight over the non-striker’s head in her next. But on 49, she top-edged Ashleigh Gardner to leave the game on tenterhooks.
It wasn’t the easiest of starts for the defending champions. Yastika Bhatia was undone by a ball that kept low first up. It just missed the stumps, but a fluff from Mooney behind the wickets allowed the ball to roll towards the boundary. Hayley Matthews didn’t have it much better either. She took nine balls to find her first run. One of those shots took the inside edge and hit the stumps, but the bails didn’t come off.
But when she got going with a boundary, she cracked three more in the next eight deliveries. By then Yastika had also settled in and the runs started trickling. By the end of the powerplay, they had added 50 runs. Gujarat Giants struck twice in quick succession thereafter, with Matthews mistiming a big hit to long on and Nat-Sciver Brunt chipping a short to mid on in the next over.
With Harmanpreet Kaur also struggling to find her groove early on, the momentum was managed by Yastika. She stroked a 36-ball 49, which included eight boundaries and a six, before her attempt to slog Gardner resulted in a top edge, allowing the bowler to go and take a fine catch.
The Harmanpreet Kaur show helps Mumbai a spot in the playoffs in a successful chase of 191.
At some point in her innings, Harmanpreet Kaur was struggling to find the big hits. By the end of the 14th over, Harmanpreet Kaur had chugged along to 20 off 21 balls. Chasing a target of 191, Mumbai Indians were behind the eight-ball, at 100 for 3. And then, the MI skipper Harmanpreet Kaur exploded. She smashed Meghana Singh for a six over long off, and then backed it up with a couple of boundaries.
Even as the Gujarat Giants bowlers attempted to force her to play on the longer boundary side, it had little impact. She found gaps and cleared the ropes – including a 90-meter six in the last over off Ash Gardner. Even as Amelia Kerr couldn’t find boundaries, she was effectively turning the strike over.
Needing 65 runs off the last four overs, Shabnam Shakil was taken down by both Harmanpreet and Kerr. Matters worsened as Beth Mooney failed to take a ball down the legside and conceded a boundary. It was her second miss of the innings, including off the first ball which was on the offside but also rolled through for a boundary.
Last six overs – the contrast all due to Harmanpreet Kaur’s blitzkrieg as Mumbai seals the playoffs spot with a brilliant knock of 95*
On the back of a strong platform laid by Mooney and Hemalatha, Giants were set to breach the 200-run mark, with the Mumbai bowlers struggling to find their lines and lengths. They were placed at 150 for 2 with Hemalatha set and Phoebe Litchfield joining her. While hits came from Hemalatha, Mumbai managed to claw back from the other end. They gave away ten or more in an over only three times from that point, while regularly picking up wickets. The result? Giants could manage only 40 for 5 in the last six.
In contrast, Harmanpreet Kaur’s ‘s blitzkrieg put Giants’ bowlers, who had a good hold over the chase, off. Only twice did they manage to keep Mumbai to under ten an over in the last six overs. Mumbai raked up 91 in just 35 balls, as a result, and dashed Giants’ hopes.
Harmanpreet Kaur’s duel with Rana was fascinating. For long, the offspinner denied her India captain any room to swing through or free her arms. But with 70 needed off 26, Harmanpreet tried to take the aerial route and lofted one straight to long-on, where Litchfield dropped a sitter and gave away four. With 47 needed off 18 by the time Rana returned for her last over, Harmanpreet Kaur’s confidence was sky high. And both Giants and Rana paid the price with an over where she hit two sixes and three fours to all but seal the deal.
The 18th over proved to be the most productive as Harmanpreet Kaur hammered Sneh Rana for two sixes and three boundaries, exploring all parts of the boundary in the ‘V’. It brought the requirement down to 23 runs off the last two overs. Even as Tanuja Kanwar bowled a largely impressive penultimate over, Harmanpreet Kaur managed to pounce on one juicy full toss that she offered and pummeled that for a six too.
With 13 needed off the last over, The MI captain Harmanpreet KAUR resorted to her comfort stroke. She came down the track to Gardner and clubbed her for a six and a four off successive deliveries to all but dash GG’s hopes. The offspinner bowled tightly thereafter, but three singles were all that was needed as Mumbai Indians clinched their fifth win of the season.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Beth Mooney the loosing captain said :
I guess, T20 cricket, you really have to bowl well to defend these. We thought 190 was a good score. It’s really tough. 49m boundaries are really tough no matter what tournament you’re playing in. Mumbai batted really well. There’s still a lot of positives, certainly from a batting perspective we’re clicking.
Just one or two balls that are going for boundaries, can probably keep things a little tighter. She (Hemalatha) made my life a lot easier, she said she enjoys batting with me. She might swing herself off her feet one day but she’s a great teammate to have.
Player of the match and winning skipper Harmanpreet Kaur said :
It was a very big game for us, we had to win so that we wouldn’t put any pressure on us (going forward). We knew we had a long batting order and we could get the job done. Definitely have an eye on finishing first to get into the final directly. Had a chat with Himanshu bhaiya about my batting and how I can improve, was thinking about staying there and looked for a big innings.
They are experienced players and when you’re chasing a big total, a lot of things are clear, like how much you need. We could then rotate the strike and take it as it came. We thought that we have a little break, have some water and see what message would come, we knew targeting the 19th over would be crucial.
Mooney and the Giants look a little shellshocked here, they can’t quite believe how this one’s slipped out of their grasp. That was an innings for the WPL archives from Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai had no business winning that from the position they were in but Kaur had other ideas. Chasing 191 to win, they got off to a decent start but things slowed down once Mathews was dismissed right after the powerplay. Nat Sciver-Brunt couldn’t quite get going and the asking rate soared as Mumbai looked to consolidate.
Yastika Bhatia perished for a very well made 49 as MI looked to step on the pedal. To put things into better context, Mumbai needed 72 off 30 deliveries and Harmanpreet Kaur made it happen with an absolute blitz. She was helped by some poor bowling from Gujarat and the ball kept sailing over the ropes faster than one could count. She finished unbeaten on 95 off 48 as Mumbai left Gujarat in the dust.
It’s tough going for the Gujarat Giants hereafter, they’re out of the playoff race now. Meanwhile, Mumbai have gone ahead and ensured that a ‘Q’ will be marked against their name in the points table going forward.