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Mumbai Indians humiliated Gujarat Giants in the first game of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) at the Dr. DY Patil Sports Academy in Mumbai. The team, captained by Harmanpreet Kaur, won the first game by a whopping 143 runs.
Mumbai Indians also created history by recording the largest win in WT20s by a run margin. Wellington Women held the previous record, defeating Otago Women by 122 runs on January 24 in Wellington.
MI scored a huge 207 for the cost of five wickets after being put in to bat first. Harmanpreet Kaur took the early lead, blasting her way to a half-century in 22 balls. Sneh Rana dismissed her after she had scored 65 runs off 30 balls with 14 fours.
Previous to that, Hayley Matthews sparked the innings by scoring 47 runs off 31 balls. Amelia Kerr completed the innings with an undefeated 45 off 24. The 22-year-old also had an 89-run partnership with Harmanpreet.
The Giants were then humbled to 23 for seven in 7.4 overs. A lot was expected of Ash Gardner, who was instrumental in Australia’s victory in the Women’s T20 World Cup. She died for a golden duck after Issy Wong discovered her outside edge.
Kerr bowled a double wicket-maiden in her first over after her outstanding batting performance. Saika Ishaque, a left-arm spinner, was excellent with statistics of 3.1-1-11-4.
Harmanpreet Leading from the Front
Harmanpreet Kaur, captain of the Mumbai Indians, wrecked havoc on the Gujarat Giants bowlers en route to a stunning 65 off 30 balls in the Women’s Premier League opener. Harmanpreet also blasted seven fours off successive deliveries in her innings, helping Mumbai Indians to a whopping 207/5 in 20 overs. In addition to Harmanpreet, Hayley
Matthews hit a quickfire 47, and Amelia Kerr remained unbeaten on 45 off 24 deliveries.
Following her innings, fans drew parallels between Harmanpreet and Brendon McCullum’s explosive century on the first night of the Indian Premier League 15 years ago. McCullum had remained unbeaten on 158 off 73 deliveries in the men’s league opener, hitting 10 fours and 13 sixes in an astonishing exhibition of power-hitting.
While Harmanpreet did not reach three figures, her knock in the first over set the tone for MI’s strong finish, and fans on Twitter praised the skipper.
Smriti donning RCB jersey
The forthcoming debut season of the Women’s Premier League (WPL) 2024 has fans all around the world excited. World players such as Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, and Meg Lanning will compete for their respective franchises in the most anticipated competition.
Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), one of the tournament’s most popular franchises, have revealed their uniform for the upcoming inaugural season of the WPL. The team recently gathered in Bangalore at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium to begin preparations for their first encounter of the season.
Royal Challengers Bangalore was one of the most active bidders in the WPL auctions. They will also be joined by Smriti Mandhana, Richa Ghosh, Sophie Devine, and Ellyse Perry.
RCB will be hoping that their decision comes through when they are on the field, given how big they went with their investment. It will be interesting to see how the players interact with one another when the inaugural WPL begins on March 4. Dané van Niekerk and Erin Burns have joined the squad, and they were quickly followed by skipper Smirti Mandhana, who has lately started the preparations.
