Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews score 77 each to power Mumbai Indians to their second WPL final with a 47-run win over Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator.
Plenty happened at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai even before a ball was bowled on Friday in the Women’s Premier League Eliminator. Minutes before the toss, Gujarat Giants’ star allrounder Deandra Dottin – who has bowled the pressure overs with the ball and had been playing impactful cameos with the bat – was ruled out due to a knee injury. At the toss, GG captain Gujarat Giants called it right but then had to make the tricky call. Throughout the tournament, teams have opted to bowl first but the matches in Mumbai so far saw teams winning after batting first.
She went with the overall trend. Later in the night, Mumbai Indians captain Harmanpreet Kaur would reveal that her personal choice was to bat first but the team’s collective choice was to bowl.
It worked out well in the end, she chuckled as MI beat GG by 47 runs in the knockout match to seal their entry into the final and set up a rematch of the 2023 title clash against Delhi Capitals. Gardner’s decision to bowl first might not have been the worst of calls, given the amount of dew that came in later but their efforts in the field didn’t help. GG ended the tournament as they started, ruing plenty of missed opportunities on the field as Nat Sciver-Brunt, Hayley Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur made merry to power MI to 213/4. That GG still ended up being only 47 short despite their star batters not firing was a mark of how below par their performance in the first half was. The result was Mumbai Indians’ seventh straight win over the Giants in WPL history.
“Once we knew we had qualified, everyone was thrilled, as they should be. There are many positives to take from this, but today it wasn’t to be, we fell short. We didn’t excel in all three facets of the game, we missed opportunities. With the ball and then with the bat, we were just a bit short. It’s a disappointing day,” Gardner said later.
MI, who have had issues at the top of the order, reverted to opening with Yastika Bhatia but her struggles this season continued. But after a rather sedate powerplay, Sciver-Brunt (77 off 41) and Matthews (77 off 50) displayed plenty of class in 71-ball 133 partnership. And against her favourite opponent, Harmanpreet (36 off 12) provided the finishing touches with a crisp cameo striking at 300.00.
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.
Gardner, who bailed her team out on multiple occasions during the season, had an off day with the bat. Indian batter Bharti Fulmali delayed the inevitable with an impressive 30 off 20 balls.
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. MI smashed 73 in the last five overs.
It didn’t help the Giants that they were on self-destructing mode in the chase with three run-outs. Their innings ended at 166 all out in 19.2 overs with Matthews also chipping in with the ball, striking twice. “I tried to control just one side of the field, varied my pace. That is something we have been working on. We were in their step-hit zone quite a bit when we played them last time,” Matthews said about her bowling. She was named the player of the match.