Mumbai Indians. (Photo Source: Twitter/WPL)
The inaugural edition of the Women’s Premier League continued to enthral the audience on the third day of the tournament as Royal Challengers Bangalore and Mumbai Indians went head-to-head against each other on Monday, March 6 at Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
Mumbai came into the match having registered a mammoth 143-run victory in the inaugural game against Gujarat Giants. On the other hand, RCB came into the match having faced a 60-run loss in their opening encounter against Delhi Capitals.
RCB captain Smriti Mandhana won her second consecutive toss but this time she elected to bat first. Openers Mandhana and Sophie Devine gave a decent start to the innings with a 39-run partnership in 26 balls.
However, RCB once again suffered a collapse as Saika Ishaque first dismissed Devine to break the opening stand and then cleaned up Disha Ksat for a duck in the fifth over. Hayley Matthews also came to the party and claimed prized scalps of Mandhana and Heather Knight in the very next over to leave the opposition reeling at 43/4 after 5.3 overs.
With her side in all sorts of trouble, Ellyse Perry began attacking the Mumbai bowlers as she scored 13 off 7 balls. However, her run out in the ninth over piled on the misery for Bangalore.
Richa Ghosh, Kanika Ahuja, Shreyanka Patil and Megan Schutt played useful cameos as RCB got bundled out for 155 in 18.4 overs. Hayley Matthews was the pick of the bowlers for Mumbai who picked up 3/28 in 4 overs while Saika Ishaque and Amelia Kerr also picked up two wickets each.
In reply, Mumbai got off to a flying start as Hayley Matthews and Yastika Bhatia added 45 runs for the first wicket in five overs. RCB got their first strike as Preeti Bose sent Bhatia on her way back to the pavilion.
Hayley Matthews’ all-round show sinks RCB’s ship
After losing her partner, Matthews continued the attack on the RCB’s bowlers and gave them no respite as she smacked them all around the park. She got great support from Nat Sciver Brunt who was also in the mood to finish the chase quickly. The duo put on a match-winning stand of 114* in just 56 balls.
Matthews remained unbeaten on 77 off 38 balls clobbering 13 fours and a six in her innings while Nat Sciver Brunt scored an unbeaten 55 off 29 balls with the help of nine fours and a six. As a result, Mumbai Indians registered their second consecutive win of the tournament by another massive margin of nine wickets and 34 balls to spare.
With this win, Mumbai continued their reign at the top of the points table.