After two comprehensive wins in high-scoring thrillers, the Gujarat Giants were defeated for the first time in this edition of the Women’s Premier League by Harmanpreet’s Mumbai Indians.
The Giants batted first, and much to their credit, they managed to score 40 runs (or more) in 4 overs for the third match in a row. Sophie Devine, who stole the show in the previous match, fell early in the third over. Yet, it was Kanika Ahuja who ensured that the scoring rate did not drop. The girl from Patiala put up a quickfire 42-run partnership with Beth Mooney, which came in only four overs.
The Gujarat Giants seemed to be on course for recording a hat-trick of 200+ scores as they found themselves at 99/3 at the halfway stage. But the Mumbai Indians bowlers bounced back as they gave away only 37 runs in the next six overs. The turnaround came after the 16th over, when debutant Ayushi Soni became the first player to be retired out in the WPL. At this stage, even Georgia Wareham had a modest score of 27(24)*.
Soni was replaced by 31-year-old Bharti Fulmali. Fulmali and Wareham changed gears, and the duo added a whopping 56 runs in the last four overs. Hayley Mathews, the top-ranked all-rounder, had an economy of over 11, and Amanjot Kaur bowled her most expensive spell (0/48). Shabnim Ismail was the best bowler of the innings, delivering 12 dot balls and picking up the all-important wicket of Devine in addition to an impressive economy of 6.25.
Despite the deceleration in the middle overs, the Giants still managed to set a target of 193 runs. It was also the highest total for any team in the WPL without any batter scoring a half-century. For the Mumbai Indians to win this match, they were looking at the challenge of making history by notching the second-highest run chase.
Harmanpreet takes charge
The start of the chase was far from promising. They lost Gunalan Kamalini in the third over and Mathews in the fourth. At 37/2, two Kaurs took to either side of the pitch – Amanjot and Harmanpreet. Ashleigh Gardner had already introduced six bowlers in the first eight overs of the innings. By the tenth over, Mumbai had improved to 88/2. Gardner herself came to deliver her first ball in the 11th over.
Credit WPL
“It’s a cliche but catches win you matches. We pride ourselves on how we fielded. And tonight, you can’t drop best players in the world. We have played three close games so far and disappointed to finish on the losing side. I don’t have a good match-up over Harmanpreet. She has a wood over me. I thought I under-utilized myself when I’m the captain, and it happens when you have eight bowling options. In hindsight, I was the best option. I can say that standing here. But I could have bowled more overs. But I wasn’t a good match against her.” – Ashleigh Gardner, Gujarat Giants captain
Gardner was struck for 10 runs, and she never bowled again in the match. Tactically, Harmanpreet does have an upper hand over Gardner, as the Indian has scored 134 runs against the 79 balls she has faced off Gardner at a strike rate of 169.6 and an average of 67 in T20s. In the following over, Devine picked up the wicket of Amanajot, as Gardner caught her at long-on, ending a 72-run stand that came in only 44 balls. At the end of the 14th over, both the Mumbai Indians and the Gujarat Giants had scored 124 runs.
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Nicola Carey’s performance with the ball has been impressive thus far in the WPL. But this time she let her bat do the talking. In the 16th over, she put the kibosh on the chase by hitting Renuka Thakur for five boundaries. With 39 required in 24 balls, Harmanpreet steadily accelerated. In the process, she reached her 10th WPL 50, became only the second woman to cross 1000 runs in WPL, and became the new holder of the Orange Cap.
Carey continued to find boundaries, particularly in long off, and through the covers. The Kaur-Carey partnership touched the 50-run mark in only 26 balls. The Mumbai Indians required 30 runs in the last three overs. Fulmali dropped Harmanpreet, who went on to score 16 runs in that Rajeshwari Gayakwad over. In the following over, Soni dropped Harmanpreet, which marked the third instance of the Indians captain surviving a dismissal. The women in blue won with four balls to spare. This was the third-highest fourth-wicket partnership for the Mumbai Indians in the WPL – 84(43)*.
The Mumbai Indians now lead the Gujarat Giants 8-0 in the head-to-head record. They also displaced Gujarat at the second spot in the points table.
