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Mumbai Indians (MI) thrashed UP Warriorz (UPW) by 72 runs on Friday in the Eliminator of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.
A scintillating all-round performance by Nat Sciver-Brunt and a hat-trick by Issy Wong helped MI enter into the final of the inaugural season of the WPL. Sciver-Brunt smashed a brilliant 72 not out off 38 balls and took 1/21, while Wong ended with figures of 4/15, which included the first-ever hat-trick of the season.
With this dominating 72-run win over the Warriorz, MI has become the second team to qualify for the final. They will now meet DC in the final of the inaugural season of the WPL at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Defending a target of 183, MI were off to a great start with the ball as they removed UPW openers Shweta Sehrawat and Alyssa Healy within the first three overs. On the last ball of the second over, left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque dismissed Sehrawat (1) caught after creating pressure on her by bowling five dot balls. Wong then removed UPW skipper Healy (11), who was caught at mid-off after getting a leading edge while trying to flick.
Things started getting worse for the Warriorz after Tahlia McGrath was run out on 7 off 6 balls in the fifth over, with some brilliant work by Amanjot Kaur and wicket-keeper Yastika Bhatia.
Grace Harris and Kiran Navgire then took on the attack against Ishaque by hitting her for three fours and a six to collect 20 runs in the over as UPW reached 46/3 at the end of the powerplay.
Navgire then got a life on 21 when Hayley Matthews dropped her in the deep. Sciver-Brunt then provided the breakthrough to MI by removing the dangerous Harris caught on 14 (12) at long-on as UPW were reduced to 56/4 in 7.5 overs.
MI gave just 8 runs in three overs before Navgire upped the ante by smashing two sixes in the 12th over off leg-spinner Amelia Kerr. Captain Harmanpreet Kaur then brought back Wong into the attack and it worked wonders for MI as she took the first-ever hat trick of the WPL. She removed the dangerous Navgire caught at deep mid-wicket for 43 (27), cleaned up Simran Shaikh (0) and then made Sophie Ecclestone (0) get played on to put UPW in deep trouble at 86/7 in 13 overs.
In the 14th over, all-rounder Deepti Sharma smashed two fours against Matthews before getting dismissed on 16 off 20 by her in the same over. Jintimani Kalita then cleaned up Anjali Sarvani (5) off her first ball, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad (5) was trapped LBW by Ishaque as MI bowled out UPW at 110 in 17.4 overs to win the match by a big margin of 72 runs.
𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋! 🔥🔥
Mark your calendars folks 🗓️@mipaltan will face the @DelhiCapitals in the summit clash of the #TATAWPL 😎 pic.twitter.com/gxsXQQ6Ihf
— Women’s Premier League (WPL) (@wplt20) March 24, 2023
Earlier, after winning the toss and electing to bowl first, UPW made two changes to their XI as Grace Harris replaced Shabnim Ismail, while Rajeshwari Gayakwad came in for Soppadhandi Yashasri. On the other hand, Mumbai Indians went into the game unchanged.
MI opener Bhatia started off her innings with a positive intent as she swept Harris for a four on the first ball of the innings. She then sliced one over point for a four off Sarvani in the next over.
In the third over, she welcomed Gayakwad with a four by coming down the track on the first ball to hit it over backward point and then lofted one over point for another boundary in the same over. At the other end, Matthews also got going as she slog-swept Harris over deep square leg for the first six of the innings.
Bhatia looked good before getting caught at mid-on off Sarvani on 21 off 18 after mistiming the ball while going for a big one. MI were quite close to getting another wicket inside the powerplay, but Ecclestone dropped Sciver-Brunt on 6 off Gayakwad as MI reached 46/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Matthews and Sciver-Brunt then ensured they keep the runs flowing by hitting an odd boundary every over. Sarvani took a fabulous catch of Matthews at deep square leg in the 9th over off Deepti Sharma. However, the on-field umpire referred it to the TV umpire, who then gave it not out concluding that the ball had touched the ground.
In the very next over, leg-spinner Parshavi Chopra took the wicket of Matthews (26 off 26) on her first ball, as Matthews hit it straight to Navgire at long-on. Just three balls later, Harmanpreet was given out LBW while going for a sweep. However, she went for the review straight away and the replays showed that her decision was right as there was an inside edge and the decision was reversed. In the 12th over, Sciver-Brunt then took on the attack against Parshavi as she smashed her for two fours and a six to garner 16 runs off the over.
Harmanpreet then scored her first four of the innings by hitting a reverse sweep off Ecclestone. But just two balls later, Ecclestone bounced back as she cleaned up Harmanpreet for 14 off 15 balls. Meanwhile, Sciver-Brunt continued to attack and brought up her fifty off 26 balls by driving Ecclestone wide of long off for a boundary.
Sciver-Brunt was in no mood to stop as she then hit a couple of fours off Gayakwad to collect 13 runs from the 17th over. Kerr initially played the supporting role with Sciver-Brunt but then shifted gears as she smashed three fours in a row off Ecclestone to bring up the 50-run stand
from 34 balls for the fourth wicket.
However, Ecclestone had the last laugh as she dismissed Kerr (29 off 19) caught at deep square leg on the next ball.
All-rounder Pooja Vastrakar then arrived at the crease and immediately got going by hitting a four and a six off Deepti in the final over. MI collected 18 runs off the last over as Sciver-Brunt finished the innings in style by hitting a six on the last ball over long-on.
Nat Sciver-Brunt played a brilliant knock of 72 not out off 38 balls, including nine fours and two sixes as MI posted a competitive total of 182/4 in 20 overs.
Nat Sciver-Brunt was awarded the Player of the Match for scoring 72* off 38 balls and taking 1/21 from her three overs.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians 182/4 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 72*, Amelia Kerr 29; Sophie Ecclestone 2/39) beat UP Warriorz 110/10 in 17.4 overs (Kiran Navgire 43; Issy Wong 4/15, Saika Ishaque 2/24) by 72 runs.
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