Bengaluru: Nat Sciver-Brunt (42), Harmanpreet Kaur (50) and Amanjot Kaur (34) came up cameo to seal Mumbai Indians’ four-wicket win over the defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2025 at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Friday.
However, the moment that stood out in the game came in the final over when the 16-year-old batter G. Kamalini struck the winning runs for Mumbai to seal victory for Mumbai with a ball to spare.
After Elysse Perry’s 81-run contribution helped Royal Challengers Bengaluru scrape to 167/7 in their 20 overs, the defending champions struck first blood in the second over when wicketkeeper batter Yastika Bhatia was caught by Kim Garth in front of the middle and off stump. However, Mumbai kept chipping away at the total with 49 runs coming in the next four overs. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s quickfire 42 off 21 deliveries was the main reason for that.
The next breakthrough moment came in the sixth over when Ekta Bisht was introduced for the first time. Sciver-Brunt made sure to take full advantage by smashing three consecutive boundaries before Hayley Matthews joined the party by finding the boundary before being trapped LWB on the last ball of the over.
Kim was once again the architect as she caught Sciver-Brunt plumb in front of the stumps an over later. The off-cutter saw the English batter try and swipe at it but the bowl kept low and trapped her in front of the stumps.
Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur and Amanjot Kaur combined for a 62-run partnership, which also saw the captain reach her sixth half-century in the tournament.
Mumbai looked well-paced for a comfortable win until Georgia Wareham spun the game on its head in the 18th over by dismissing Harmanpreet and Sajeevan Sajana off consecutive deliveries.
Amanjot Kaur, who was named Player of the Match for her contribution with both bat and ball, struck two sixes in the 19th over off Kanika Ahuja to help bring Mumbai to within six runs off the target. After scoring at a run-a-ball in the first four balls of the over, and a super overlooking more likely, Kamalini stood tall and scored a four on the second last ball to seal the win with one ball to spare.
In the first innings, Perry played the rescue act with a well-crafted 81-run contribution. Perry graced the fans with 11 boundaries and two sixes as she watched her batting partners struggle from one end whilst she thrived from the other.
Smriti Mandhana continued her onslaught, having scored 81 runs in their last game against the Delhi Capitals, and flew straight out of the floodgates by hitting Shabnim Ismail for two boundaries in the opening over.
However, it was Shabnim who had the last laugh. Mandhana continued her strong hitting with two fours in the third over before being caught off guard with a back-of-the-length delivery. An attempted pull saw the RCB skipper lob the ball straight up in the air making for an easy catch for Yastika Bhatia.
Elysse Perry did not take any time to make a statement by smashing a four, over square leg, on the very next ball.
Danni Wyatt-Hodge was the next to depart as an outside-off delivery by Sciver-Brunt saw the English batter try and hammer it into the stands but ended up giving a simple catch to Hayley Matthews.
Raghvi Bisht’s underwhelming start to the season continued as she was dismissed on her third delivery by Hayley in the very next over. A slower ball outside off saw Raghvi try to dispatch it for a six but was caught by the fielder at Deep mid-off. Kanika Ahuja also struggled against spin before being bowled over by Sanskriti Gupta in her first over of the game.
Richa Ghosh, RCB’s hero from the opening game against Gujarat, and Perry combined for a vital 50-run partnership to take the home side to a defendable total.
With the duo getting set well and a huge total looking more and more likely for the home side, skipper Harmanpreet Kaur called on the services of Amanjot Kaur and she delivered instantly by knocking over the wicket of Richa.
With wickets falling from one end, Perry continued her strong hitting and hammered away to her fifty in 30 deliveries, After reaching the milestone she switched gears and went on to take RCB to the solid total before being caught on the second last delivery of the innings.
Brief scores:
RCB 167/7 in 20 overs (Elysse Perry 81, Richa Ghosh 28; Amanjot Kaur 3-22) lost to Mumbai Indians 170/6 in 19.5 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 50, Nat Sciver-Brunt 42; Georgia Wareham 3-21) by four wickets.
(IANS)
