Mumbai Indians beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru by four wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday to hand the defending champion its first loss of the ongoing Women’s Premier League.
Amanjot and Kamalini held on till the end.
| Photo Credit:
K MURALI KUMAR/The Hindu
Amanjot and Kamalini held on till the end.
| Photo Credit:
K MURALI KUMAR/The Hindu
While youngster G. Kamalini hit the winning runs with a four through the covers, it were the crucial knocks by skipper Harmanpreet Kaur (50 off 38 balls) and Amanjot Kaur (34 off 27 balls) that steered MI to its second win of the season.
AS IT HAPPENED: RCB vs MI Highlights
Chasing 168, MI was dealt an early blow after Kim Garth trapped Yastika Bhatia leg-before in the second over.
After Nat Sciver-Brunt’s arrival in the middle, the MI batters sent the opposition on a leather hunt. The visitor looked to end the PowerPlay on a high, with the English allrounder hitting Ekta Bisht for three consecutive fours in the sixth over. Ekta pegged momentum back in RCB’s favour momentarily by sending Hayley Matthews back to the hut.
Garth removed Sciver-Brunt with a pitched-up delivery that rocked the latter’s stumps. Georgia Wareham’s imperious legspin foxed Amelia Kerr to reduce MI to 82 for four at the halfway stage. A 62-run partnership between Amanjot and Harmanpreet steadied proceedings.
Wareham sent back Harmanpreet and Sajeevan Sajana off consecutive deliveries in the 18th over to give the RCB faithful a glimmer of hope, but Amanjot and Kamalini held on till the end.
Ellyse Perry’s personal best score was not enough to hand RCB a win in its first home game of the season.
| Photo Credit:
K MURALI KUMAR/The Hindu
Ellyse Perry’s personal best score was not enough to hand RCB a win in its first home game of the season.
| Photo Credit:
K MURALI KUMAR/The Hindu
RCB was put to bat first at a ground that averaged a first-innings total of 152 runs in the last edition. Openers Smriti Mandhana and Danni Wyatt-Hodge started strong, taking Shabnim Ismail’s feisty pace. The South African pace ace had the last laugh with Smriti miscuing a pull shot, nicking the ball to Yastika behind the stumps.
MI pacers reaped dividends at the Chinnaswamy. Sciver-Brunt removed Wyatt-Hodge who took the bait and hboled out to Matthews at short third. The West Indies allrounder then removed Raghvi Bist to claim her sixth scalp of the season, the Uttarakhand batter holing out to Kerr at midwicket while trying to clear the ropes.
Sanskriti Gupta removed Kanika Ahuja to reduce RCB to 57/4 in eight overs. Ellyse Perry found a steady partner in Richa Ghosh and stitched a 50-run stand for the fifth wicket to calm the collective nerves of everyone in red. Amanjot’s introduction turned the face of the game as she took out Richa and Wareham in quick succession.
Perry’s(81 off 43 balls) purple patch continued as she defied Mumbai’s hacking of her batting partners. Finally, it was Amanjot who removed Perry in the final over but not before the batter smacked consecutive fours. Little did Perry know that her best WPL score wouldn’t suffice in the end.
