MIW vs GGT WPL 2023: Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat Giants by 55 runs, become first team to reach playoffs
MIW vs GGT WPL 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur’s Mumbai Indians qualified for the playoffs after beating Sneh Rana’s Gujarat Giants in the 12th match of the Women’s Premier League on Tuesday. The MI team continued their winning streak as they defeated GGT by 55 runs to make it five wins out of five in the tournament. With contributions from both MI’s batsmen and bowlers at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai, they were once again too hot for the opposition to handle.
Harmanpreet Kaur and co. First scored 162 runs on a spin-friendly pitch as the captain himself steered the team to a competitive score. The spin duo of Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews along with fast bowler Nate Sciver-Brunt again took most of the wickets as Gujarat were restricted to just 107/9 in 20 overs. Notably, MIW have become the first team in the tournament to defend a total of less than 200 so far.
Detailed match report
Sneh Rana won the toss as Harmanpreet Kaur’s luck failed once again on the flip of the coin. Gujarat opted to take advantage of the favorable bowling conditions. Ash Gardner dismissed Hayley Mathews at cover in the first over. However, Nate Sciver and Yastika Bhatia put them back on track with a careful 74-run partnership. They could not free their hands much as the pitch was helping the bowlers. Kim Garth then dismissed Siver lbw and Yastica was then run out as MI slumped to 84/3 in 12.1 overs. But it was once again the captain leading from the front. He scored another half-century as MIW crossed the 150 mark. Kaur scored a 29-ball half-century but fell on the very next ball to Harleen Deol’s brilliant catch at long-on. Kaur was dismissed on the third last ball when the team was 160/7. A couple, in the end, took them to 162/8.
MIW took a flight with Nate Sciver-Brunt taking the wicket of Dunkley’s first ball to start proceedings. Even as S Meghna and Harleen Deol tried to pull things back, the spinners kept the fruit off the surface. Hayley Matthews then got two to give the Giants a big blow. Deol and Ash Gardner tried to revive but in the 10th over when the score was 48/5, Gardner was caught by Amelia Kerr. Skipper Sneh Rana and Deol were out as Mumbai sent Gujarat into complete disarray. Nate Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews took three wickets each, while Kerr and Issy Wong took 2 and 1 wickets respectively. There was jubilation among the MIW team and fans when Giants batsman Sushma Verma played the last ball for a dot to give Kaur’s side a massive 55-run victory. They are unbeaten in the tournament and are confident of finishing in the top three.
MIW’s Playing XI:
Hayley Mathews, Yastika Bhatia (WK), Nate Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (C), Dhara Gujjar, Amelia Kerr, EC Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jindimani Kalita, Saika Ishaq
GGT’s Playing XI:
Sabhineni Meghna, Sophia Dunkley, Harleen Deol, Ashley Gardner, Dayalan Hemaltha, Annabelle Sutherland, Sushma Verma (WK), Kim Garth, Tanuja Kanwar, Sneh Rana (C), Mansi Joshi
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