Mumbai: Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur slammed a fluent half-century as Mumbai Indians posted a competitive 179 for six against Gujarat Giants in a battle for the top spot in the Women’s Premier League here Monday.
The MI captain made good use of the cut shot, producing nine boundaries en route to 54 off 33 balls, anchoring the innings. Hayley Matthews (27), Nat Sciver-Brunt (38), and Amanjot Kaur (27) also chipped in with quick knocks.
The Gujarat Giants’ spin trio of Ashleigh Gardner (1/27), Tanuja Kanwar (1/41) and Priya Mishra (1/23), along with pacer Kashvee Gautam (1/32), took a wicket each.
Sent in to bat, Matthews got MI off to a strong start, hammering a four and a six off Deandra Dottin in the opening over. However, Tanuja’s brilliant over, which conceded just a single run, slowed the scoring.
Amelia Kerr (5) was then run out in Kashvee Gautam’s over, leaving MI at 17/1 after three overs.
Matthews continued to fire, blasting a couple of boundaries, while Sciver-Brunt followed suit with two fours and a six. However, Gautam stemmed the flow of runs in the final over of the powerplay, with MI scoring 44/1 after six overs.
Priya Mishra then dismissed the dangerous Matthews, but conceded 13 runs in her next over. Skipper Ashleigh Gardner bowled two tidy overs to keep MI to 67/2 in 10 overs.
Meghna Singh then faced the wrath of Harmanpreet, who sent her for a couple of boundaries.
Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt added 59 runs off 40 balls before Gardner broke the stand, with a brilliant caught-and-bowled effort after getting a leading edge from the England player, as MI slipped to 105/3 in the 14th over.
Amanjot Kaur sizzled in the middle overs, striking four boundaries and a six in her quickfire 27 off 15 balls before holing out to Gardner off Gautam.
Kaur brought up her fourth half-century against the Giants with a single off Dottin but holed out in the 20th over.
