Mumbai Indians. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League is being loved by fans all over the world as women cricketers have lit up the tournament with their scintillating performances. Continuing with the enthralling action in the tournament, Mumbai Indians locked horns with UP Warriorz on Sunday, March 12 at Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
UP Warriorz captain Alyssa Healy won the toss and elected to bat first. However, the team did not get off to the best of starts as they lost opener Devika Vaidya in the second over itself. Following that, Kiran Navgire joined captain Healy at the crease as the duo added 50 runs for the second wicket off 28 balls.
Navgire could not build on her start and fell prey to Amelia Kerr after scoring 17 off 14 balls. Following her dismissal, Tahlia McGrath and Healy and McGrath were involved in an 82-run stand in 61 balls for the third wicket.
Both batters reached their respective half-centuries and it looked like UP will easily cross the 180-run mark. However, Saika Ishaque came back dismissed both the set batters in the 17th over, bringing Mumbai back into the game.
UP could not recover and could only manage to reach 159/6. Saika Ishaque was the pick of the bowlers as she picked 3/33 in four overs while Kerr returned with figures of 2/33 in her four-over spell.
Harmanpreet Kaur, Nat Sciver-Brunt put on a match-winning partnership
In reply, Mumbai got off to a good start as Yastika Bhatia took on the opposition in the powerplay. She played some breathtaking shots and was involved in a 58-run stand with her opening partner Hayley Matthews.
Bhatia missed out on her half-century as she was dismissed on 42 off 27 balls, while Matthews also could not get going as she departed for 12 off 17.
After losing their openers, captain Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt came together and kept moving the scoreboard, keeping the required run rate in check. They put on an unbeaten 106-run stand off 63 balls, helping their team chase down the target in 17.3 overs with eight wickets in hand.
Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 53 off 33 balls while Sciver Brunt scored an unbeaten 45 off 31 balls. As a result, Mumbai continued their winning juggernaut winning their fourth consecutive match in the tournament.
Here are the best memes from the match:
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