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The Harmanpreet Kaur-led Mumbai In dians women registered their second of the WPL 2024 after beating the Gujarat Giants by five wickets. Playing at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Kaur won her second consecutive toss and invited the Giants to bat first. Justifying this decision to start with the ball, MI's Shabnim Ismail drew first blood by dismissing Veda Krishnamurthy after a three-ball duck.
The South African soon struck again with Ismail dismissing Harleen Deol LBW in the third over. These early troubles held the Giants back as Beth Mooney's side were reduced to 58-5 after the first ten overs. Mumbai continued building pressure and found two more scalps before Tanuja Kanwar and Kathryn Bryce got ready for a strong finish.
The Kanwar-Bryce pair combined to score 53 runs and helped Gujarat post 126 in their 20 overs. For Mumbai, Ismail ended with three wickets while Amelia Kerr topped the bowling with figures of 4-22 in her four overs. Rounding up the wickets column, Nat Sciver-Brunt and Hayley Matthews also picked up one wicket each.
Chasing the modest 126-run total, Mumbai Indians' opening pair once again got to a sluggish start with Yastika Bhatia getting out at seven and her partner, Mathews, following suit. With the defending champions struggling at 21-2, Kaur and Sciver-Brunt stitched up a short 28-run stand before the English all-rounder was run out, putting the game back into balance in the eighth over.
Rescuing Mumbai, captain Kaur with Amelia Kerr built a solid partnership which saw the pair use their experience to gradually reach the target. After posting a 66-run stand, Kerr departed and then Mumbai lost another quick wicket with Tanuja Kanwar cleaning up Pooja Vastrakar. But avoiding a late collapse, Harmanpreet Kaur scored the last few runs and clinched the game with a massive six in the 19th over to consolidate their spot at the top of the table.
The Indian captain top-scored with a 46-run knock that included five fours and one maximum. Whereas for the Giants, Kanwar started with her four overs of two wickets and 21 runs.
