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Cricket Women's Premier League 2024

WPL 2024: Mumbai Indians beat Gujarat by 5 wickets to win their second game of the season

Mumbai Indians win their second game of the tournament after beating Gujarat GIants by 5 wickets. The win has given Harmanpreet Kaur and her side the top spot in the Women's Premier League 2024 table.

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Mumbai Indians (Source-Twitter)

Mumbai Indians and Harmanpreet Kaur are already top of the table after just two games of the season. In their first game they beat Delhi Capitals in a last ball thriller thanks to Sajana Sajeevan. On Sunday Mumbai made it two wins in a row as they beat Gujarat Giants by five wickets. 

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It was Mumbai Indians who won the toss and chose to bowl first. Harmanpreet Kaur said at the toss that she was looking to bowl due to the dew. The defending champions went in with the same that played the last game. 

Gujarat Giants went in with three overseas making their debut for the side. In the last campaign, the Gujarat side had finished last in the table with 4 points from six games. after the disastrous season, they made wholesale changes to their squad

Key Moments Of The Game –
-    Shabnim Ismail rocks Gujarat Early
-    Beth Mooney fails to score
-    Tanuja Kanwar and Kathryn Bryce review Gujarat to 126
-    Mumbai lose two early wickets
-    Tanuja Kanwar runs out set Natalie Brunt
-    Amelia Kerr and Harmanpreet Kaur fight back
-    Mumbai Indians register easy win

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Shabnim Ismail rocks Gujarat Giants – 

South African pacer Shabnim Ismail was one of the biggest picks of WPL 2024 for Mumbai. The veteran pacer showed her class when she had the Gujarat team hopping. Veda Krishnamurthy was the first to go when she was out for a 2nd ball duck. Harleen Deol also was out for LBW to Ismail for 8. The third wicket for Ismail was that of skipper Beth Mooney for 24. Yastika Bhatia made no mistake when she took an amazing catch. 

Beth Mooney fails to score – 

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After losing Veda Krishnamurthy and Harleen Deol, the Gujarat side would have hoped for their skipper to come good. Beth Mooney looked in good touch but the Mumbai Indians didn’t give her a chance to score much. Mooney hit two crisp shots but became the 5th wicket of the day for the MI bowlers. 

Two unlikely stars help Gujarat recover – 

After the fall of Beth Mooney, Ashleigh Gardener (15) and Sneh Rana (0) perished to leave Gujarat at 79/7. The Mumbai bowlers were all over the opposition, and that’s when Tanuja Kanwar and Kathryn Bryce came together. The pair added 47 runs for the 8 wickets to help Gujarat reach 126. The 28 by Tanuja Kanwar was the highest score for Gujarat while Bryce was not out on 25. 

Mumbai lose three early wickets – 

Having been set a target of 127, Mumbai Indians started well as the openers added 19 runs for the 1st wicket. Yastika Bhatia was the first batter to be dismissed as she was out for 7. Hayley Matthews continued her worrying form with the bat when she was also out for just 7 runs. It was the Tanuja Kanwar and Kathryn Bryce pair which did the damage at the start. The day wasn’t over for Kanwar as she got rid of the dangerous-looking Natalie Brunt for 22 via run-out. 

Amelia Kerr and Harmanpreet Kaur steady Mumbai’s ship 

At 49/3 just when it seemed like Mumbai Indians could be in trouble they found a lifeline. Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur was joined by Kiwi star Amelia Kerr and the pair started to find their feet. The two batters began slowly but then the boundaries started coming as Kaur began to score freely. 

Mumbai Indians cost to easily win to take the top spot in the table – 

There was no stopping Mumbai Indians as they showed what they could do if given an opening. Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr didn’t give Gujarat a chance as they took the team home to an easy win. Gujarat did give Mumbai a little scare by picking Amelia Kerr and Pooja Vastrakar on either side of the time-out break. The winning hit was scored by the skipper who slog swept the ball deep into the stands for a six. 

Final Analysis – 

Mumbai Indians have continued their unbeaten run against Gujarat Giants to register a third win. The win also takes Mumbai Indians to the top of the table, their next game is against the Alyssa Healy-led UP Warriorz on Wednesday. Amelia Kerr was given the Player of the Match award for her impressive all-round performances. 

WPL