Mumbai Indians defeat Gujarat Giants with the assistance of Amelia Kerr and Shabnim Ismail

The defending champions were helped by an unbeaten 46 from captain Harmanpreet Kaur. They made a modest chase.

Shabnim Ismail delivered an outstanding performance with the new ball in Bengaluru, dismantling the top-order of Gujarat Giants as Mumbai Indians secured their second victory of WPL 2024. Legspinner Amelia Kerr provided valuable support, claiming four wickets.

The defending champions restricted the Giants to 126 runs and were assisted by captain Harmanpreet Kaur's unbeaten 46 in achieving the middling chase. They won by five wickets with 11 balls remaining.

Run chases for Harmanpreet and WPL

Harmanpreet has a history of successful run-chases in the WPL. She started this season with a half-century in a chase against Delhi Capitals, similar to her performance in the first match of the inaugural season against the Giants. Her average in chases is over 63 in the brief history of the competition. Therefore, Mumbai would have been relieved even when Nat Sciver-Brunt departed, leaving them at 49 for 3.

A well-timed cover drive helped her get started against the Capitals. Here, she punched Tanuja Kanwar's left-arm spin through cover-point for four to begin her innings. With the target in sight, she took her time, even as Sciver-Brunt attacked at the other end. She kept Mumbai well ahead of the required run rate, frequently using paddle sweeps and reverse sweeps to move the ball around. Alongside Kerr, she almost brought Mumbai within reach of the target.

Despite the back-to-back dismissals of Kerr and Pooja Vastrakar, Mumbai remained composed thanks to Harmanpreet's match-winning six over deep midwicket.

Giants downsized

Mumbai had a great start after choosing to bowl. Ismail quickly took the first wicket. Ismail retired from international cricket last year but has been performing well as a T20 freelancer. On Sunday, she bowled a length ball that moved away, setting up Veda Krishnamurthy, who was making her WPL debut, before getting one to nip back in sharply from a fullish length. Veda was dismissed for a second-ball duck while on the front foot. Ismail also got Harleen Deol lbw in her next over. The Giants lost two wickets, as well as both their reviews, in the first 16 balls.

Phoebe Litchfield, who was also making her WPL debut, showcased her reverse sweep against Hayley Matthews. However, her stay was short-lived as she edged one to short third off Sciver-Brunt. Harmanpreet rotated her bowlers frequently, preventing the batters from scoring freely. D Hemalatha was caught at long-on.

In the 11th over of the innings, Ismail was brought on to take advantage of an opportunity to end the innings early. She successfully dismissed Beth Mooney, who had been steadily progressing and had reached 24 runs. With the score at 5 for 58, the Giants were in a difficult position. The situation worsened in the 14th over when Kerr took two wickets, first catching Ashleigh Gardner at long-on and then deceiving Sneh Rana with a wrong'un to bowl her through the gate.

Saving Bryce and Kanwar

Kathryn Bryce, the only associate player in WPL 2024, joined Kanwar in the middle as the  Giants struggled at 78 for 7 with just over six overs to spare. The duo found regular boundaries off the two legspinners, Kerr and SB Keerthana. Bryce also hit a tossed-up Matthews delivery into the deep midwicket stands. The pair helped Giants score 33 runs in the last four overs, despite Kerr taking two wickets in the final over.

After completing the rescue act with the bat, Bryce and Kanwar turned their attention to bowling. The Scotland all-rounder struck on her second ball of the competition, causing Yastika Bhatia to miscue to mid-off in the third over. Kanwar was brought on as the fourth bowler in the fourth over and managed to get Matthews out with her left-arm spin, hitting straight into the waiting hands of deep midwicket. In her final over, the 17th, she bowled Vastrakar and finished with figures of 2 for 21 off her four overs.

In the eighth over, she threw accurately to the wicketkeeper Mooney to run out Sciver-Brunt. Kanwar's performance seemed to inspire the Giants to an unlikely victory, but the experienced Harmanpreet ensured that Mumbai maintained their 100% record against the Giants, winning 3-0 on Sunday.