NEW DELHI: Mumbai Indians put their campaign back on the winning track after registering a comprehensive 42-run victory over
Uttar Pradesh Warriorz
in a mid-table clash in the
Women's Premier League
(WPL) here on Thursday.
Opting to bat first on a newly-laid surface in the centre of the square at the Arun Jaitley stadium,
Nat Sciver-Brunt
's 45 and
Amelia Kerr
's 39 helped MI set a target of 161 against
UPW
.
In reply, UPW could manage to score 118 for nine in their allotted 20 overs as MI bowlers maintained a disciplined line and length. For UPW,
Deepti Sharma
turned out to be the lone bright spot and was the only one among runs with a fighting 36-ball 53.
Sciver-Brunt also shone with the ball (2/14) for MI, even managing a hat-trick ball after picking up two quick wickets in the middle overs of UPW chase to produce an all-round performance. She was ably supported by slow left-arm orthodox Saika Ishaque, who was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/27 in her four overs.
It was also a sweet revenge for Harmanpreet Kaur-led side as they were defeated by UPW by seven wickets in their last meeting earlier this season. Alyssa Healy-led UPW struggled to score freely, with just 17 runs coming off in the powerplay overs at the loss of three wickets.
Pacer Shabnim Ismail and the spin duo of Ishaque and Hayley Matthews made the stay for the UPW batters in the middle difficult as openers Kiran Navgire (7) and Healy (3) and one-down Chamari Athapaththu (3) departed in quick succession inside five overs with just 15 runs on the board.
Ismail, who is renowned as the fastest bowler in the women's game, produced a magical spell of 4-0-6-1 to snuff the life out of UPW's chase, even accounting for the prized-wicket of Healy. The former South African pacer, who had created history on Tuesday when she bowled the fastest delivery (132.1 km per hour) ever recorded in women's cricket, didn't allow the UPW batters to score freely.
UPW struggled both for runs and partnerships as they crossed the 50-run mark in 11.1 overs, with their NRR at a poor 4.83. They kept losing wickets at regular intervals with Deepti waging a lone battle with the bat, scoring her fifty with a lofty six off Sajeevan Sajana on the last bowl of the innings.
Earlier, Harmanpreet won the toss and put her side in, searching for a win after their loss against Delhi Capitals in their last fixture. However, it looked MI skipper's decision had backfired after right-arm off break Athapaththu dismissed openers
Yastika Bhatia
(9) and Hayley Matthews (4) in her first two overs to put MI in a spot of bother.
Sciver-Brunt and Harmanpreet stabilised MI's innings despite early blows with a timely partnership of 59 runs for the third wicket before the former was dismissed by
Rajeshwari Gayakwad
with MI at 76/3.
After taking her side past the 100-run mark, Harmanpreet, too, departed for a 30-ball 33 as MI looked for a final flourish from their lower middle-order batters to post a fighting total. Kerr (39 off 23 balls) and Sajeevan Sajana (22 off 14) rose to the occasion to blast 38 runs in the last four overs.
For UPW, Athapaththu was the pick of the bowlers, grabbing two wickets for just 27 runs in her four-over spell.
Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians: 160 for 6 in 20 overs (Nat Sciver-Brunt 45, Amelia Kerr 39,
Harmanpreet Kaur
33; Chamari Athapaththu 2/27) beat Uttar Pradesh Warriorz 118 for 9 in 20 overs (Deepti Sharma 53 not out; Saika Ishaque 3/27, Sciver-Brunt 2/14) by 42 runs
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