WPL 2024 Match 16 Highlights: Mumbai Indians Women vs Gujarat Giants Women

Mumbai Indians became the first team to qualify for the knockouts of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 with a seven-wicket win over Gujarat Giants Women on Saturday, March 09 at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi. After opting to bat first, Gujarat posted a massive total of 190/7 in their allotted 20 overs with captain Beth Mooney (66 off 35) leading from the front along with great support from Dayalan Hemalatha (74 off 40).

In reply, Mumbai chased down the target on the penultimate ball of the game courtesy of Captain Harmanpreet Kaur’s scintillating innings of 95* (48). Earlier, Yastika Bhatia gave her team a good start with her knock of 49 (36). As a result, Mumbai won the game by seven wickets and climbed to the top of the points table with five wins from seven matches having ten points to their name. On the other hand, Gujarat are still reeling on the last spot with just one win from six matches and are on the verge of being knocked out.

Also Read: WPL 2024, Match 16: Mumbai Indians Women vs Gujarat Giants Women, Sixteenth Match - Who Said What?

Let’s take a look at the highlights from Match 16 of WPL 2024:

1. Beth Mooney and Dayalan Hemalatha’s massive partnership

After opting to bat first, Gujarat lost their opener Laura Wolvaardt (13 off 14) in the third over itself. However, captain Beth Mooney and Daylan Hemalatha got involved in a massive 121-run stand for the second wicket off 62 balls to bring their team into ascendancy. Mooney scored 66 (35) while Hemalatha scored 74 (40) as the duo smacked MI bowlers all around the ground.

2. Yatika Bhatia gets Mumbai off to a good start

Mumbai Indians openers Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Matthews got their team off to a good start as they added 50 runs for the first wicket off 39 balls. Bhatia continued her marvellous form and played a good knock of 49 (36) with the help of eight fours and a six. On the other hand, Matthews scored 18 (21).

Also Read: Deepti Sharma's over showed how to snatch victory from jaws of defeat: Reema Malhotra

3. Harmanpreet Kaur rips apart Delhi with her jaw-dropping acceleration

The Mumbai captain walked to the crease with her team on 57/2 after 7.3 overs and scored just 20 off her first 21 balls. With MI needing 91 off the last six overs, the captain quickly shifted gears and started the onslaught. She first clobbered Meghna Singh for 19 runs in the 15^th over and Sneh Rana for 24 in the 18^th over to bring the equation down to 23 needed off 12.

The right-handed batter eventually finished the game on the second last ball stealing a single towards short fine leg. Harmanpreet remained unbeaten on 95* off 48 balls with her last 75 runs coming in just 27 balls.

Here are some more highlights from Mumbai's emphatic win: