Nothing kills quite as brutally as hope.
Gujarat Giants, which has never beaten Mumbai Indians in the history of the Women’s Premier League, came into the opening fixture of the Mumbai leg thinking its against-the-grain heroics this season could change that record. However, a batting collapse and MI’s senior pros handed the home side a nervy nine-run win in Mumbai on Monday.
Chasing 180, MI brought the Giants to their knees with the scorecard reading 94/6 in the 14th over. A new opening combination in Beth Mooney and Kashvee Gautam (who replaced Dayalan Hemalatha) couldn’t get off to the explosive start they would have liked. Shabnim Ismail, who operated in the upper 115 kmph speed range, allowed little room for any shenanigans off her bowling.
MI’s spinners Amelia Kerr, Hayley Matthews and Sanskriti Gupta made merry as GG’s batting line-up fell while trying to audaciously find the boundary. The biggest punch in the gut for the Giants was losing Gardner for a duck with MI masterfully bringing back Ismail’s pace to choke her for room, making this her seventh dismissal in eight games to a seamer.
AS IT HAPPENED | MI vs GG Highlights
Phoebe Litchfield too fell to the South African pace ace, with two unsuccessful attempts to ramp Ismail, the second one sending her back to the dugout.
Just when the shoulders dropped in the dugout and a chunk of fans began to leave thinking MI had the game in the bag, Bharti Fulmali decided to put on a show with an imperious 25-ball 61. Her blitz featured eight fours and four sixes with MI fielders left rooted to the ground watching the ball glide over their heads. She brought the ask down to 38 runs needed from the last three overs.
Simran Shaikh just blindly muscled the ball, some finding the boundary, some leaving the crowd grimacing. Cheers of ‘MI….MI….’ gave way to the names of the Gujarat girls fighting to save the game.
GG’s Bharti Fulmali in action during the WPL Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
GG’s Bharti Fulmali in action during the WPL Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
With Giants needing 13 off the last six, Matthews dropped Simran but had the presence of mind to effect a run out at the non-striker’s end, with Tanuja Kanwer walking back. Simran’s stumps were rattled off the very next ball. Priya Mishra and Meghna Singh swung at everything, but it was not to be as a smiling Matthews and Harmanpreet Kaur savoured the relief of a win.
Choosing to bowl in a venue that loves chases, Giants could do little to tame an early onslaught from Matthews. Kiwi all-rounder Kerr, a middle order regular, found herself pushed up to the opening slot for the second game in a row.
Pacer Kashvee’s inswingers began testing the pair in the third over but it was a brilliant direct hit by skipper Ashleigh Gardner, who flung the ball in from mid-on, that broke the momentum, sending Kerr back for a nine-ball five.
MI’s Harmanpreet Kaur in action during the WPL Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
MI’s Harmanpreet Kaur in action during the WPL Match between Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Giants held at CCI Stadium in Mumbai on Monday.
| Photo Credit:
EMMANUAL YOGINI
Matthews was unfazed as she picked the boundaries with ease but a one-run over from Kashvee snuffed the momentum away from the Windies big-hitter. Leggie Priya doubled down, getting stingy with pace on the ball. She beat Matthews with a slow 72kmph crawler that flattened out in the air. Matthews miscued the cut with Mooney making no mistake behind the stumps.
A cautious Nat Sciver-Brunt had the cushion of Harmanpreet playing early aggressor. The pair stitched a 59-run stand for the third wicket before Gardner sent Sciver-Brunt packing with a catch off her own bowling.
A handy 15-ball 27 from Amanjot Kaur was the perfect accompaniment to Harmanpreet before she fell to old training mate Kashvee. The skipper dug in with the home crowd cheering on every shot as she registered her second fifty of the season and her seventh overall in the WPL.
Yastika Bhatia, sent in for the dying moments of the innings, made full use of a Litchfield misfield to get on strike and get MI to 179, a score the bowlers ensured was more than enough to fashion a win out of.
