Follow UsMumbai Indians reached their second-ever final of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) after defeating Gujarat Giants in the one-sided Eliminator game by 47 runs. They will now meet the Delhi Capitals in the final on March 15 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
After being asked to bat first by the Gujarat Giants skipper Ashleigh Gardner, Mumbai had a slightly slow start, with Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews failing to get going right from the first ball. However, after the fall of Yastika’s wicket things turned around rapidly as Nat Sciver-Brunt blasted off in her innings and scored 71 off just 44 deliveries. Matthews also found her top gear with the bat and scored 77 off 50 deliveries.
Sciver-Brunt hit 10 fours and two sixes in her innings and kept running the quick runs in the middle to help MI reach 213/4, the highest total ever scored in a knockout game of the WPL. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur used her muscle at the end and scored 36 off just 12 deliveries to swell the total, which is also the third-highest in the history of the WPL overall.
In bowling, GG were up against a huge task, but lost their three premier batters — Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Ash Gardner — in the powerplay itself. After that, they were playing catchup in the entire innings, and even a late blitz from Bharti Fulmali and Phoebe Litchfield wasn’t enough to get them anywhere near the target.
Eventually, they fell 47 runs short of the total as the Purple Cap holder Matthews also shone with the ball and picked 3/31 in 3.1 overs. Amelia Kerr also bowled well for her 2/28.
MI will now face DC in a repeat of the final from the first edition of the WPL.