WPL 2024, Match 3: Gujarat Giants Women vs Mumbai Indians Women, Third Match - Who Said What?

Mumbai Indians took another step towards their title defence in Women’s Premier League 2024 as they registered their second consecutive win of the season beating Gujarat Giants by five wickets on Sunday, February 25 at M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru. Amelia Kerr put on a stunning all-round show picking 4/17 with the ball and later scoring 31 off 25 to help Mumbai get over the line chasing 127 to win.

Earlier, Gujarat Giants were put in to bat first by Mumbai captain Harmanpreet Kaur. Mumbai’s bowlers were all over Gujarat right from the word go as Shabnim Ismail (3/18) and Amelia Kerr (4/17) hunted in pair to leave GG reeling at 78/7. Captain Beth Mooney (24 off 22), Harleen Deol (8 off 9), Phoebe Litchfield (7 off 8) and Ashleigh Gardner (15 off 22) all departed cheaply.

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Their innings was rescued by Kathryn Bryce (25 off 24) and Tanuja Kanwar (28 off 21) with their 48-run stand off 36 balls helping Gujarat reach 126/9 in their allotted 20 overs. In reply, Mumbai lost openers Yastika Bhatia (7 off 7) and Hayley Matthews (7 off 11) early in the chase. Nat Sciver Brunt (22 off 18) got a start but unfortunately got run out leaving Mumbai on 49/3. Seeing her team in trouble, captain Harmanpreet Kaur (46* off 41) got involved a 66-run stand with Amelia Kerr to help her side get over the line.

Here’s what the two captains and the Player of the Match said after the game.

Losing Captain, Beth Mooney, Gujarat Giants, said:

I was a bit nervous about the first game against Mumbai but got through it unscathed fortunately. (On the score) We let ourselves down in the first ten overs. Credit has to go to TK and Bryce to get us to a defendable total. We were 20 runs short in the end to make it a challenging chase. Lot to take away from the first innings. (On Bryce) She was very good tonight. She has been a great find, hopefully this is just a sign of things to come. Sometimes you have to take the result out, especially in a new team. It's disappointing to lose but we take the positives and move on to the next game. 

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Winning Captain, Harmanpreet Kaur, Mumbai Indians, said:

Thank you so much. We have a very balanced side, all the all-rounders, they are representing their country and we told them to go out and enjoy the game. (On Shabnim Ismail) She has been great so far and others are supporting her when she is doing so well, our bowlers are complementing each other very well. Including myself there are nine bowlers. I think we are going with the best match-ups, when you have a long bowling lineup, you need to get the match-ups right and I’m proud of the girls. We want the top order to give us a solid start, it’s just the second game and they are understanding the situation and conditions and they will bounce back well. 

Player of the Match, Amelia Kerr, Mumbai Indians, said:

When you are bowling later on in the innings, you can get hit but also get wickets. For me, it is about working out the conditions and going to variations. It came out well tonight. (On the googly) It is something I practice, it's a useful option in T20 cricket, especially against left-handers. The way Shabs (Shabnim Ismail) started off, it allowed us to stay on top. Charlotte Edwards (MI head coach) asked me to just go out there and bat till the end. Just about backing my game and I tried to play good cricketing shots, it's about going out there and playing low-risk cricket in that situation. (On playing for MI) It's an amazing franchise to play for. Amazing group of people, that is what I enjoy most. We have match-winners and we are fortunate to have so many. Nice to see so many people step up at different times.