Image Credit- BCCI
Mumbai Indians recorded their second victory of the
WPL 2024 when Shabnim Ismail’s outstanding new-ball bowling display in
Bengaluru punctured the Gujarat Giants’ top order. Amelia Kerr, a legspinner
who took four wickets, well supported her.
Harmanpreet Kaur, the skipper, scored an undefeated 46 to help the reigning
champions limit the Giants to 126 and ace the mediocre chase. They needed
eleven balls and five wickets to make it home.
Mumbai made the brilliant decision to bowl first. Once
more, it didn’t take long for Ismail to seize the lead. Ismail has been amazing
as a T20 freelancer, and on Sunday she continued to do so. Her sudden
announcement of her retirement from the national team last year shocked the
cricketing community. She got WPL rookie Veda Krishnamurthy started with a
length ball that was heading away, but then she got one to nip back in sharply
from a fullish length. Veda moved quickly on the front foot and was pinned in
front for a duck of the second ball. Ismail gave Harleen Deol the same
treatment in her subsequent over, resulting in her leg before wicket. In the
first 16 balls, the Giants lost both of their reviews and two wickets.
Phoebe Litchfield, who was also making her WPL debut,
demonstrated her reverse sweep against Hayley Matthews. However, she only
lasted a short while as she defeated Sciver-Brunt by a narrow margin.
Harmanpreet never let the batters to get away with it; she was always moving
her bowlers around. In one such attempt, D Hemalatha’s hole was too long.
Ismail was brought in for her final over in the eleventh over of the innings,
sensing a chance to end the innings early. And she succeeded in moving the
unyielding Beth Mooney, who had gradually advanced to 24. Giants were
essentially in mush at 5 for 58. And when Kerr joined the fray in the
fourteenth over, things only got worse.
With just over six overs remaining and the Giants
floundering at 78 for 7, Kathryn Bryce—the lone Associate player in the WPL
2024—joined Kanwar in the middle. Both Kerr and SB Keerthana, the two
legspinners, were regularly foured out by the pair. Additionally, Bryce was
able to get beneath a ball that Matthews flung up and send it into the deep
midwicket stands. Despite Kerr’s last over that claimed two wickets, the duo
contributed to the Giants’ 33-run total in the final four overs.
In the WPL, run-chases and Harmanpreet have been a
romantic couple. Just as she had done in the opening game of the previous
season, which was also against the Giants, she started this season with a
half-century in a chase against the Delhi Capitals. In the short history of the
tournament, she has an average of over 63 in chases. For this reason, even with
Mumbai at 49 for 3 following Nat Sciver-Brunt’s exit, they could have relaxed.
She started off against the Capitals with a well timed
cover drive, and to get rolling here, she punched Tanuja Kanwar’s left-arm spin
past cover-point for four. She could take her time since she could see the
target, and she did so even as Sciver-Brunt attacked from the opposite end. She
manoeuvred the ball around frequently by using her paddle sweeps and reverse
sweeps, which allowed Mumbai to stay well ahead of the asking rate. With Kerr
by her side, she nearly made Mumbai a reality.
Mumbai didn’t need to fear even after Kerr and Pooja Vastrakar fell in five
balls or less. Harmanpreet made sure it remained that way by hitting a six over
deep midwicket to end the game.