Mumbai Indians edged past Delhi Capitals in the first match of the Women's Premier League 2024 with a thrilling four-wicket win on the final ball of the match. Sajeevan Sajana smashed a six off the final ball to help the reigning champions kickstart their title defence in style at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. With five runs needed off the final ball, the all-rounder tonked a six over long-on to power her side to a famous win.
MI captain Harmanpreet Kaur has heaped praise on Sajana and her team's batting depth for the successful run-chase. She said that with 12 needed off the final over, they wanted to win on the first three balls.
"Wicket looked fine while batting, we thought if we took the game deep, we felt we could win. (on Sajana) She was smacking sixes during the practice session and she showed us tonight. We were looking to finish the game in the first 3 balls but we know we have depth in our batting, because of Sajana I'm standing here. Batting first or second does not matter, only conditions matter and according to that we change," Harmanpreet said in the post-match press conference.
Harmanpreet credits batting coach for finding form
The MI captain played a crucial role in the run-chase along with Yastika Bhatia. Harmanpreet scored 55 off 34 balls, while Yastika made 57 from 45 balls to keep MI in the hunt. Harmanpreet was happy with the result and credited her coach for her return to form after a tough Australia tour.
"Happy where we ended. Really happy with the way we played. I would love to give credit to my batting coach, Himanshu bhaiya. After that Australia tour, I was not confident, he made me practice hard and gave me energy. I was not playing domestic cricket, I was not feeling great. Mentally that break helped me," she added.
