Mumbai Indians came up with another all-round show as they coasted to an eight-wicket win over UP Warriorz to stay undefeated in the Women’s Premier League at the Brabourne Stadium on Sunday.
After Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath led UP’s charge with the bat, it was Saika Ishaque who began Mumbai’s fightback with the ball. UP, who were 140/3 at the end of the 17th over, were on course for a bigger total, but ended up scoring only 19 in the last three overs, which was no way close to a par on the pitch.
A target of 160 was never going to challenge Mumbai’s in-form batting line-up and riding on Harmanpreet Kaur’s unbeaten 53, they overhauled the target in 17.3 overs. Nat Sciver-Brunt remained unbeaten on 45 while Yastika Bhatia scored 42 at the top.
Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt put together an unbeaten 106 for the third wicket as Mumbai Indians made it four wins out of four.
Needing a good start, Bhatia provided Mumbai with one at the top, contributing most in the 58-run first-wicket stand with Hayley Mathews.
Although Bhatia couldn’t carry on for long, Harmanpreet and Sciver-Brunt played their roles to perfection. Both, though, had luck on their side. In the 11th over bowled by Anjali Sarvani, Harmanpreet’s stumps her hit, but the bails did not come off. And later in the same over, Sciver-Brunt survived a tight run-out chance.
Earlier, as Healy and McGrath made fifties, UP looked like they would end Mumbai’s unbeaten run. Despite dismissing Devika Vaidya early in the Powerplay, Shaque was having an off-day as she conceded six boundaries in her four-over spell. However, just as Healy and McGrath were looking set to tee off at the end, the left-arm spinner accounted for both as UP lost momentum when they needed it the most.
Ishaque took her wickets tally to 12 in just four WPL games so far, cementing her position as Mumbai Indians’ go-to bowler when in need of a breakthrough.
At the top, it was Healy who did bulk of the scoring for the Warriorz, stitching together 50 runs for the second wicket with Kiran Navgire. And with her compatriot McGrath, the opener added 82 runs before being dismissed in the 17th over. From there on, the battle became one-sided as Mumbai took the grip of the match and never let it go.
