Bhatia and Harmanpreet led Mumbai's chase, following Capsey and Rodrigues' efforts in setting a target of 172 for Delhi.
The second season of the Women's Premier League began and ended with a blockbuster match, as defending champions Mumbai Indians won a last-ball thriller by four wickets in Bengaluru. The opening ceremony featured many Bollywood celebrities. The game swung back and forth before the movie-like ending.
Mumbai faced a challenging target of 172 and required 22 runs from the last two overs with captain Harmanpreet Kaur at the crease. Kaur hit a six off the last ball of the penultimate over, reducing the required runs to 12 off 6. The Capitals turned to Alice Capsey's part-time off-spin, with the longer boundary on the leg side. Although Capsey dismissed Pooja Vastrakar and Harmanpreet in the first five balls, her efforts were not enough to prevent Mumbai from winning the match.
With only one run needed off the last ball, Kerala all-rounder S Sajana, playing her first WPL match, hit Capsey over long-on to trigger celebrations in the strong crowd at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Just hours earlier, Capsey had scored a 53-ball 75, aided by a dropped catch by Sajana, but her night ended in disappointment.
Bhatia leads Mumbai's chase
Mumbai lost Hayley Matthews with the second ball of the chase. The opener attempted to drive Marizanne Kapp and was caught behind. Yastika Bhatia opened her account with a delightful drive past wide mid-off. She then hit Annabel Sutherland for two fours. In the final over of the powerplay, she went after Shikha Pandey.
Bhatia lofted the ball over mid-off before getting a thick outside edge past the wicketkeeper. Then, as Mumbai reached 50 for 1 after six overs, she lofted a short delivery over deep midwicket.
Arundhati Reddy took a wicket with her first ball for Capitals, dismissing Nat Sciver-Brunt with an inswinging slower delivery. However, Bhatia continued to play well, reaching her fifty off just 35 balls and appeared to be on track to bat through the chase. Unfortunately, she was caught by Kapp at deep midwicket when she attempted to hit another slower delivery from Reddy across the line.
Control is taken by Harmanpreet
Harmanpreet opened her account with a crisp cover drive on the first ball. Even after Bhatia was dismissed, she continued to rotate the strike and hit boundaries regularly. The pace of Sutherland and Kapp helped her as the chase got tighter. She smashed a huge six over long-on to bring up a fifty off 32 balls.
Mumbai's chase seemed to lose momentum when she was dismissed. But then Sajana did the unthinkable.
Ismail has a lot of passion
When Mumbai purchased Shabnim Ismail at the auction, there was talk of her being a backup for Issy Wong. However, she not only started the WPL 2024 ahead of Wong. She also bowled an opening spell that put paid to any notion of her being a back-up. Ismail began with a one-wicket first over. She was supported at the other end by left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque.
Ismail took a wicket with the first ball of her second over, bowling Shafali Verma with a 118 kph delivery. Verma had cleared her front leg and attempted to hit across the line. The Capitals only scored 26 for 1 in the powerplay, and Ismail's figures were 3-0-10-1. Ismail returned at the end of the innings, but a dropped catch prevented her from taking the wicket of a well-set Capsey.
C for Capitals and for Capsey
Meg Lanning and Capsey steadily rebuilt the Capitals' innings. They broke free in the first over after the powerplay. Capsey danced down to loft Amelia Kerr over extra cover, followed by Lanning hitting over mid-on. In her only over, WPL debutant SB Keerthana was bowled for 13. With the fielding restrictions lifted, Capitals had scored 37 in three overs when Lanning and Capsey hit a six and a four in Kerr's next over. After the timeout, Sciver-Brunt managed to dismiss Lanning.
Despite losing their captain, Capitals' Capsey accelerated, hitting two sixes and a four off Matthews to bring up a half-century in just 36 balls. She was joined by Jemimah Rodrigues, who combined deft touch with aggression. Capitals continued to hit boundaries in the death overs. Capsey and Rodrigues added 74 runs in just 40 balls before Capsey was dismissed lbw off Kerr after missing a reverse sweep.
Rodrigues demonstrated her power by frequently hitting the on-side boundary. She hit an Ismail slower one over long-on before smashing a slower bouncer from Sciver-Brunt over deep midwicket.
Kapp added a final flourish, hitting three fours in the last over, helping the Capitals finish on 171. However, Mumbai maintained their perfect record in chases in the WPL and the score was not enough.