Harmanpreet Kaur. (Photo Source: WPL)
The Mumbai Indians became the first team to secure qualification for the WPL 2024 playoffs with a seven-wicket win over the Gujarat Giants, at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. Batting first, Gujarat had set a 191-run target which Mumbai scored with a ball to spare to pick up their fifth win of the season. JioCinema and Sports18 WPL expert Reema Malhotra discussed the impact of the match. Mumbai Indians’ captain Harmanpreet Kaur (95* runs) also spoke exclusively to JioCinema and Sports18 on ‘Match Center Live’. Excerpts:
Harmanpreet Kaur spoke about Mumbai’s performance – “In the first 10 overs, we gave away too many runs. But when SS (Sajeevan Sajana) got Mooney (Beth) out, the momentum started shifting towards us. Especially in the last four to five overs, we did a good job of stopping them. In the middle, we thought they might score 200+ runs which would make it a challenging run-chase as chasing over 200 always puts more pressure on the batting. The way we came back while they were batting so well, gave us confidence that we can win the match if someone plays a long innings.”
Kaur on her batting strategy – “There’s no secret, it’s all about calculations. At the international level, everyone knows how to calculate a run chase. If the scoreboard demands 10 runs in an over, you’ll bat accordingly. There’s no special mantra that I can say I uttered to achieve this. The communication with Amelia was clear and we backed ourselves according to that.”
Reema Malhotra spoke on the positive impact of this performance on women’s cricket – “This isn’t just a win for the Mumbai Indians, it’s a win for women’s cricket. Every match we are seeing players increase the bar of performance. This is the kind of platform women’s cricket was waiting for. We have to salute the TATA WPL for this.”