Credit: X
On Saturday, March 2, Mumbai Indians defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets in their Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 clash a t the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Stand-in captain Nat Sciver-Brunt and Amelia Kerr were the chief contributors for MI in their third victory in four WPL matches, putting them in the top spot in league standings.
After the stand-in captain of Mumbai Indians, Nat Sciver-Brunt, who took over the reins from injured Harmanpreet Kaur, won the toss, she decided to field first at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. They managed to pick up the first three wickets, including the likes of the captain Smriti Mandhana, Sophie Devine, and Sabbhineni Meghana of the hosts Royal Challengers Bangalore in the powerplay, to put the brakes on the scoring rate.
In the 13th over of the innings, RCB were reduced to 71/5 before the Australian duo Ellyse Perry (44) and Georgia Wareham (27) took some resemblance of control of their innings. They stitched together a 52-run partnership to ensure that RCB reached 131/6, something on the board to compete with.
The run chase of 132 began on a bright note for Mumbai Indians with Yastika Bhatia, who scored a breezy 31 off just 15 balls including four fours and two sixes, within the first four overs of the powerplay. Her opening partner Hayley Matthews contributed 26 runs in 21 balls with three fours and one six, to put her team in firm control of the contest.
After the dismissals of Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Mathews, it was the captain Nat Sciver-Brunt, who stitched together an impressive partnership of 49 runs with Amelia Kerr to put the Mumbai Indians on the brink of yet another win in the WPL.
