Harmanpreet Kaur’s knock helped MI reach a fight-worthy total (WPL Twitter)
Harmanpreet Kaur smashed 51, Yastika Bhatia scored 44 and Nat Sciver-Brunt scored 36 as MI scored 162/8 against Gujarat Giants
Harmanpreet Kaur was the saviour once again for her Mumbai Indians team as they put up a total of 162/8 in 20 overs against Gujarat Giants at the Brabourne Stadium in WPL 2023 on Tuesday.
After being invited to bat first as Sneh Rana won the toss and opted to bowl, Kaur’s side lost Hayley Matthews early, before Yastika Bhatia and Nat Sciver-Brunt stitched together a crucial partnership.
Yastika smashed 44 runs while Sciver-Brunt added 36 runs to the cause. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur joined Bhatia after Sciver-Brunt was dismissed by Ashleigh Gardner who finished with figures of 34/3 in her four-over spell.
Kaur started with a cautious approach but switched gears towards the end as she smashed 51 runs in just 30 balls, including 7 boundaries and 2 massive sixes.
Amelia Kerr also contributed 19 runs as the table-toppers put up a total of 162/8 after a sluggish start.
The total perhaps could have been even more if Kaur had not been dismissed by Gardner after good work from Harleen Deol who completed a diving catch.
Deol had earlier dismissed Humaira Kazi with a sensational run out from near the boundary ropes in one of the moments of the inning.
Amanjot Kaur attempted to add more runs to MI’s total although she could only find Sophia Dunkley which meant Gardner was on a hattrick on the last ball of the inning, however, Jintimani Kalita took 2 runs to deny the Aussie all-rounder her moment of glory.
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It was an uncharacteristic slow start from the Indians, who have yet to lose a single match in the league so far. The early dismissal of Hayley didn’t help although a flurry of runs from the middle order helped them put up a fight-worthy total on the board.
The Giants’ skipper Rana bowled brilliantly, giving away just 17 runs in her four-over spell, also getting the wicket of Issy Wong.
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