Harmanpreet Kaur and Nat Sciver-Brunt put on an absolute clinic against UP Warriorz as the two put together an unbeaten partnership of 106 runs to hand their team a victory by eight wickets. The two remained unbeaten at 53 and 45 respectively.
By the time the game closed, Harmanpreet had smashed nine fours and a maximum, while Nat Sciver-Brunt had smashed six boundaries and a six. Kaur, speaking at the post-match presentations, thanked Nat and said that owing to her fiery innings, she herself got time to settle in.
"Thanks to Nat, she played really well. I got time to settle in. We were calculating (the scoring rate) very well. That time (UP Warriorz bowlers) Sophie (Ecclestone) and (Shabnim) Ismail were bowling well so we were calculating that there are other bowlers we can attack," Harmanpreet said after the match. "Very happy with the performance. I can't be thankful enough, for the way we are playing and we are gelling together. This is the best tournament so far," added the MI skipper.
Although Harmanpreet gave credit to UP's batting line-up for putting MI under pressure, she admitted that Grace Harris, who missed the game due to illness, was a big miss for the opposition.
"The way they (Healy and McGrath) were batting, we were a little tense. But I knew that if we are able to take one or two wickets, we could stop them because we knew (Grace) Harris was not playing and they didn't have anyone who could hit hard," said Harmanpreet, explaining the strategy. On her partnership with Harmanpreet, Nat Sciver-Brunt said, "It feels brilliant. The team's really on a high. I thought I should be hitting more boundaries and she just hit four boundaries in an over. That just put a nail in the chase."
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The losing team captain Alyssa Healy said another 15-20 runs would have made the game more competitive and blamed herself and her bowlers for the below-par total.
"I think we were probably 15-20 runs short. We needed a set batter at the end. It was as scratchy as it comes for me. It wasn't easy. We didn't score as many boundaries as the Mumbai Indians did. We also bowled too much junk and gave too many boundaries. We just have to see how we can do well with the players available. We have some bowlers on the bench and (Grace) Harris as well. No prizes for being a good human is it? When an lbw that is not out is given out and Harmanpreet is bowled but the bails don't fall," said Healy, referring to some call that didn't go her team's way.
Mumbai Indians have now beaten every team in the tournament. They will next be in action against Gujarat Giants on March 14.
