MIW vs GGT WPL 2023: Harmanpreet Kaur's Mumbai Indians on Tuesday defeated Sneh Rana's Gujarat Giants in the 12th match of the Women's Premier League to qualify for the playoffs. The MI side continued their winning streak as they thrashed the GGT side by 55 runs to make five out of five wins in the tournament. They were once again too hot to handle for the opponents yet again with contributions coming from both- MI batters and the bowlers at the Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai.
Harmanpreet Kaur and co. first scored 162 runs on a spin-friendly pitch as the skipper herself powered the team to a competitive total. The spin duo of Amelia Kerr and Hayley Matthews along with speedster Nat Sciver-Brunt then accounted for most of the wickets as Gujarat were restricted for just 107/9 in 20 overs. Notably, MIW have become the first team in the tournament to defend a total of less than 200 in the tournament so far.
Detailed match report
Sneh Rana won the toss as Harmanpreet Kaur's luck failed once again at the flip of the coin. Gujarat opted to exploit the bowling-friendly conditions. Ash Gardner got Hayley Matthews out at covers in the first over. However, Nat Sciver and Yastika Bhatia brought them back on track with a careful 74-run stand. They were not able to free their hands much as the pitch was aiding the bowlers. Kim Garth then got Sciver out LBW and then Yastika was run out as MI received a setback at the score of 84/3 in 12.1 overs. But it was once again the captain leading from the front. She brought up another fifty as MIW raced past 150. Kaur smashed a 29-ball fifty but fell on the very next ball, thanks to a wonderful diving catch from Harleen Deol at long-on. Kaur got out on the third last ball when the team was at 160/7. A couple, in the end, got them to 162/8.
MIW were off to a flier with Nat Sciver-Brunt taking a first-ball wicket of Dunkley to begin the proceedings. Even though S Meghana and Harleen Deol tried pulling things back, the spinners took the fruits out from the surface. Hayley Matthews then got two to inflict big blows on the Giants. Deol and Ash Gardner tried putting on a revival show but only for Garnder to be caught off Amelia Kerr's ball in the 10th over when the score read 48/5. Captain Sneh Rana and Deol were outplayed as Mumbai sent Gujarat into a complete mess. Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews took three wickets each, whereas Kerr and Issy Wong got 2 and 1 wickets, respectively. The MIW team and fans went into jubilation when Giants batter Sushma Verma played the last ball for a dot to hand Kaur's team a big 55-run win. They are unbeatable in the tournament and are also assured of a top-three finish.
MIW's Playing XI:
Hayley Matthews, Yastika Bhatia (wk), Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (c), Dhara Gujjar, Amelia Kerr, Issy Wong, Amanjot Kaur, Humaira Kazi, Jintimani Kalita, Saika Ishaque
GGT's Playing XI:
Sabbhineni Meghana, Sophia Dunkley, Harleen Deol, Ashleigh Gardner, Dayalan Hemalatha, Annabel Sutherland, Sushma Verma (wk), Kim Garth, Tanuja Kanwar, Sneh Rana (c), Mansi Joshi
