Mumbai, March 13 (IANS) Hayley Matthews and Nat Sciver-Brunt hit 77 runs each while captain Harmanpreet Kaur smashed a breathtaking 36 at the back-end as Mumbai Indians posted 213/4 in 20 overs against Gujarat Giants in the Eliminator clash of the 2025 Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the Brabourne Stadium here on Thursday.
On a fresh pitch, Hayley and Nat joined forces to share a partnership of 133 off 71 balls for the second wicket and put on a batting masterclass in front of their home fans. While Hayley hit ten fours and three sixes in her 50-ball knock, Nat smashed 10 fours and two sixes in her 41-ball innings.
Harmanpreet then took over to hit a 12-ball 36, laced with two fours and four sixes at a strike rate of 300, and took MI to a mammoth total in a knockout game. For GG, it was a phase to forget as none of their bowlers were spared from MI’s big-hitting batters, while their fielding and catching were simply shoddy.
Hayley kickstarted things in style by cutting Ashleigh Gardner for four and was soon dropped on five when Beth Mooney couldn’t hold on to the edge of her drive. From the other end, Yastika Bhatia hit three boundaries in her 14-ball 15 before miscuing off the toe-end to mid-wicket off debutante Danielle Gibson.
After that, it was just one-way traffic as Hayley and Nat carted GG’s hapless bowlers regularly to the boundary ropes. While Hayley mostly hit boundaries off the backfoot, including taking three boundaries off Priya Mishra’s opening over, Nat was driving crisply and taking runs mostly through the leg side.
It also helped the duo that GG made misfields galore, especially outside the 30-yard circle, and didn’t take catches well. Hayley reached her fifty in 36 balls when she pulled Tanuja Kanwer for six, while Nat, after carting Meghna Singh for two boundaries, got her fifty in 29 balls by pulling Danielle for a maximum.
After Nat pulled Danielle for another six, Hayley was dropped on 57 when Ashleigh couldn’t hold on to a chance at long-on. To rub salt in the wound, Hayley smacked Priya for two sixes and a four before edging behind off Kashvee for 77 off 50 balls.
Post that, Priya put down Harmanpreet’s catch at mid-wicket, and from there, it was no looking back for the MI skipper as she hit Tanuja for two fours and as many sixes in the 18th over. Though Nat miscued to deep mid-wicket off Danielle and fell for 77 off 41 balls, Harmanpreet smacked two more monstrous sixes before being run out on the last ball, as MI crossed the 210-run mark.
Brief scores:
Mumbai Indians 213/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 77, Hayley Matthews 77; Danielle Gibson 2-40, Kashvee Gautam 1-30) against Gujarat Giants
–IANS
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