Amelia Kerr’s All round show and Shabnim Ismail’s terrific spell helps MI women to edge out Gujarat Giants women by 5 wickets in WPL 2024

Mumbai Indians women (MI W) continued their winning streak in the WPL 2024. The defending champions had a relatively easier challenge as compared to DC women when they took on Gujarat Giants women at M Chinnaswamy stadium. Right from the toss, everything went right for MI women. In the end, they registered a 5-wicket win and continued their streak of winning games in run chases.

Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to field first. Her decision was proven right as Shabnim Ismail bowled a dream spell with the new ball. Within the PP overs, the experienced pacer claimed two wickets, including that of Veda Krishnamurthy and Harleen Doel. She later dismissed Beth Mooney for 24(22) as MI women were all over the Giants.

E Bryce and Tanuja Kanwar tried to revive the innings if the Giants. However, the lack of contribution from the proper batters did not help them. While Bryce scored 25(24), Kanwar hit 28(21) and emerged as the star performer. Amelia Kerr did the clean-up job and got rid of the tailenders quickly. Her 4/17 and Ismail’s 3/18 helped the MI women to restrict the Giants to just 126 runs. On a wicket like Bengaluru, it was not going to be enough.

Harmanpreet Kaur and Amelia Kerr guide MI women to win

Chasing the total, MI women lost the wickets of their reliable openers early. The duo of Yastika Bhatia and Hayley Mathews could not step up. It led to the recovery phase where Nat Sciver Brunt and Kaur framed a good partnership. It consolidated the innings of MI women. After claiming 1/14 with the ball, Sciver scored 22(18) before getting perished. Amelia Kerr then joined Kaur.

The duo batted well in the middle. They were helped by some poor bowling from the Giants, who conceded a lot of extras. While Harmanpreet Kaur scored an unbeaten 46*(41), Kerr hit 31(25). The duo ensured that MI women were in the run chase throughout. For Giants, Tanuja Kanwar was the star in the bowling as well. She claimed 2/21 in her four overs, which was not enough for Giants. MI women won by 5 wickets with 11 balls to spare.