Mumbai Indians began their Women's Premier League (WPL) 2023 campaign with a dominant 143-run victory over Gujarat Giants at the Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Saturday. The opening match of the tournament saw Skipper Harmanpreet Kaur's impressive fifty and Saika Ishaque's sensational four-wicket haul as Mumbai Indians completely outplayed the opposition.
Kaur's historic fifty set the tone for the match as Mumbai Indians posted an imposing total of 207 for five in 20 overs. Along with Kaur, Amelia Kerr (45 not out off 24) and Hayley Matthews (47 off 31) also played valuable knocks for the team.
Chasing a huge total, Gujarat batters had immense pressure on them and they crumbled under it. With Mooney getting injured in the first over, they were already staring down the barrel. Very soon, Gujarat lost four wickets inside the powerplay, which completely pushed them back. They couldn't recover from there, and only two batters got into double digits, with Dayalan Hemalatha being the top-scorer (29 off 23) for Giants.
Earlier, Gujarat won the toss and opted to bowl first. Tanuja Kanwar sent Yastika back cheaply in her first over, but the two experienced internationals, Matthews and Sciver-Brunt, batted brilliantly and got Mumbai Indians off to a good start in the powerplay. Wareham got the better of Sciver-Brunt, and right after that, Matthews also missed out on a fifty.
However, the real carnage came after the 10th over. Harmanpreet was on a rampage from the get-go and sent the bowlers to the cleaners. She was well supported by Kerr, who played a brilliant innings herself. Gujarat bowlers were taken for plenty as 130 came off the last 10 overs. Sneh Rana took two wickets for Gujarat, with Ashleih Gardner, Tanuja Kanwar, and Georgia Wareham picking a wicket each.
Overall, it was a dominant performance by Mumbai Indians, and they will be looking to carry this momentum forward in the tournament. Meanwhile, Gujarat Giants will need to regroup quickly and come up with a better performance in their next match.
Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 207/5 in 20 overs (Harmanpreet Kaur 65, Hayley Matthews 47, Amelia Kerr 45 not out; Sneh Rana 2/43) beat Gujarat Giants Innings 64-9 in 15.1 overs (Dayalan Hemalatha 29 not out; Saika Ishaque 4/11, Nat Sciver-Brunt 2/5) by 143 runs.